I LIBRARY (TF CONGRESS,! 



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DELISSER'S 

HORSEMAN'S GUIDE. 



coairRisiNU 



THE LAWS ON WARRANTY, AND THE RULES IN 
PURCHASINGS AND SELLING HORSES, WITH 
THE DECISIONS AND REPORTS OF VARI- 
OUS COURTS IN EUROPE AND THE 
UNITED STATES. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED 

A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF WHAT CONSTITUTE SOUNDNESS 

AND UNSOUNDNESS, AND A PEECISE METHOD SIMPLY 

LAID DOWN, FOR THE EXAMINATION OF HORSES. 

SHOWING THEIR AGE TO THIRTY YEARS OLD. 

TOGETHER WITH AN 

EXPOSURE OF THE VARIOUS TRICKS AND IMPOSITIONS PKACTICED BY LOW 
HORSE DEALERS (JOCKEYS) ON INEXPERIENCED PERSONS. 

ALSO 

A valuable Table of each and every bone in the sU-ucture of the Horse. 

THE ENTIRE MATTER CAREFULLY COMPILED FROM TWENTY ENG- 
LISH, FIVE AMERICAN, SIX FRENCH, AND NINE GERMAN 
VETERINARY AUTHORS, WITH THE OPINIONS OF 
THE COMPILER ATTACHED. 

BY 

GEO. P. DELISSER, V. S. AND L. A. 

And Late Examining Veterinary Surgeon to the Americaji Society for 
the Prevention of CrueUy to Animals. 



Vw^ 



NEW YORK: 

DICK & FITZaERALD, PUBLISHERS, 

18 Ann Street. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, lay 

DICK & riTZGERALD, 

In the Office of the librarian of Congress, at "Washington, D. C. 



X 



PEEFAOE. 



The leading object of this work is to present to the 
public, in a handy form for the pocket, a detailed enumer- 
ation of the various diseases and infirmities which consti- 
tute unsoundness in horses, with plain directions for detect- 
ing them, even when concealment has been attempted 
by such dealers as are more ingenious than honest. 

There are quite a number of persons who consider them- 
selves well informed in regard to the legal enactments 
relating to unsoundness, by which the rights of purchasers 
are defended against fraudulent horse-dealers j there are, 
however, comparatively few who might not become easy 
victims in a horse trade, notwithstanding their supposed 
knowledge. For their benefit, and for the guidance also 
of those who lay no claim to any knowledge on the subject, 
the laws which regulate horse transactions are laid down, 
together with such legal decisions as bear on doubtful 
points ; thus affording a reliable book of reference useful 
to all, whether buyer or seller, lawyer or client. 

Among the other subjects introduced may be mentioned 
the most reliable methods of discovering the correct age 
of a horse ; the points by which a good, sound horse may 



iy PREFACE. 

be known ; the most desirable and appropriate food, and 
various other useful information connected with the gen- 
eral EQanagement of horses. 

The author has taken special pains to condense into an 
apparently small space as much plain information and in- 
struction as possible, omitting nothing that is necessary to 
render each topic complete and comprehensible, but ex- 
cluding all needless repetitions and tedious explanations, as 
calculated to detract from the main objects of the work — 
perspicuity, accuracy and ready reference. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

ON SOUNDNESS 7 

In What Soundness Consists 7, 10 

What Constitutes Unsoundness 8 

Legal AND Other Decisions 8, 10, li, 20 

Pkospective Unsoundness 15 

Diseases which Produce Unsoundness 21, 33 

Blemishes 33 

ON WARRANTY 34 

Form of Warranty 34 

Breach of Warranty 35 

Legal and other Decisions 37, 40 

Different Kinds of Warranties 41 

ADVICE TO BUYERS 47 

Hints on Examining Horses 49 

How TO Detect Lameness 50 

The Sole of the Foot 51 

Defects op the Hoof, &c 52 

The Legs 54 

The Eye 55 

The Wind 58 

How to Detect Chronic Cough 60 

Roaring 61 

The Kidneys 62 

Vicious Habits 63 



vi CONTENTS. 

PACK 

Tricks of Horse-Dealeus 64 

Artificial Marks 66 

Eeceipts for Coloring 66 

OX AGE A.-KD APPEARANCE 67 

The NuiiBER OF Teeth 67 

The Structure of the Teeth 63 

The Age Told by the Teeth 69 

The Age Told by the Eyes 71 

The Age Told by the Chin 73 

The Age Told by the Lower Jaw Bone 74 

The Race Horse 82 

Driveng 83 

ON FEEDING, AND THE EOOD 83 

Comparative Table of Food 87 

Directions for Feeding 87 

TABLE OF THE BONES LtT A HORSE 89 



THE HORSEMAN'S GUIDE. 



ON SOUNDNESS. 



Under this heading we propose to treat on Soundness 
and Unsoundness, and give a clear explanation of the legal 
interpretations on the subject. 

In what does Soundness consist? According to Mr. 
Spooner, — " This question has been a subject of the most 
contradictory opinions, has given birth to numerous argu- 
ments, and has sadly puzzled the heads of lawyers them- 
selves. Indeed, the most opposite opinions have been 
expressed by the learned judges at various times j though, 
at the present day, when the opinion of veterinary surgeons 
are allowed more weight than formerly, the decisions of the 
bench are much more uniform. Perfect soundness appears 
to consist of the total absence of disease ; but as this very 
seldom occurs in horses that have been used, and as, from 
the rarity of its existence, tlie strict definition would be 
useless, it is now understood to mean that a horse has no 
disease or alteration of structure that makes him in any 
respect less useful, or is likely to make him less useful, 
than he would be without such defect. Soundness has, 
therefore, strict reference to utility ; it does not apply to 
blemishes, although these blemishes may be alterations of 
structure, and produced by disease. Freedom from blem- 



8 ON SOUNDNESS. 

ishes must be specified in the warranty, in order to guard 
against them. With regard to the greater number of points, 
veterinary surgeons are pretty well agreed as to what is un- 
soundness and what is not; but there are cases in which there 
is a difference of opinion; some practitioners, perhaps, are 
too strict in their opinions, and others not strict enough, 
but there are many, it is to be hoped, who preserve the 
happy medium." 

Mr. Youatt says, — '^The horse is unsound that labors 
under disease, or has some alteration of structure which 
does interfere, or is likely to interfere, with his natural use- 
fulness. The term natural usefulness must be borne in 
mind, as it has received high judicial sanction. Coates vs. 
Stephens, 2 Moody and Robinson, 157; Scholejield vs. Mohb, 
ibid. 210. The following extract is taken from a note to 
one of those cases : ' As it may now he considered as settled 
law, that -the breach of a warranty or soundness does not 
entitle the purchaser to return the horse, hut only to recover 
the difference of value of the horse, with or without the par- 
ticular unsoundness, the question of temporary maladies, 
producing no permanent deterioration of the animal, would, 
generally speaking, only involve a right to damages merely 
nominaV Therefore natural usefulness has been decided on, 
as one horse may possess great speed, but soon is knocked 
up ; another will work all day, but cannot be got beyond a 
snail's pace; a third with a heavy tread is liable to stumble, 
and is continually putting to hazard the neck of his rider ; 
another, with an irritable constitution, and a loose, washy 
form, loses his appetite and begins to scour if a little extra 
work is exacted from him. The term unsoundness must 
not be applied to either of these ; it would be opening far 
too widely a door to disputation and endless wranghng. 
The buyer can discern, or ought to know, whether the 



ON SOUNDNESS. 9 

form of the borse is that wbicb will render bim bkely ro 
suit bis purpose, aud be sbould try bim sufficiently to as- 
certain bis natural strength, endurance, and manner of go- 
ing. Unsoundness, we repeat, has reference only to disease, 
or to that alteration of structure which is connected with, 
or will produce disease, and lessen the usefulness of the 
animal." 

In " Hippopatbology," I find Mr. Percival saying,— ''Re- 
luctantly as we enter on this difficult and much debated 
question, we feel it our duty, in a work on lameness, to 
make some observations on the subject, though these ob- 
servations will be rather of a general, than of a particular 
nature, and have special reference to soundness regarded 
as the converse of or opposite state to lameness. No person 
buys or sells a horse without feeling some concern as to the 
soundness of the animal; the purchaser is apprehensive lest 
bis new horse sbould from any cause turn out unserviceable, 
or unequal to that for the performance of which he has 
bought him ; the vender is apprehensive, either lest the an- 
imal, in other bands, should not prove that sound and ef- 
fective servant be conceived or represented him to be, or 
lest some unrepresented or concealed fault or defect, be is 
aware the animal possesses, may now, in his new master's 
hands, be brought to light. Soundness, as opposed to ac- 
tual or decided lameness (or as synonymous with good 
health), is a state too well understood to need any definition 
or description: when we come, however, to draw a line be- 
tween soundness and lameness in their less distinguish- 
able forms — to mark the point at which one ends and the 
other begins — we meet a difficulty; and this difficulty in- 
creases when we find ourselves called on to include under 
our denomination of unsoundness, that which is likely, or 
has a tendency to bring forth lameness. 



10 ON SOUNDNESS. 

The number of 'horse cases,' as they are commonly 
called, that have engaged the attention of our courts of law, 
have brought eminent persons of the legal profession to 
our aid in the solution of this intricate question. Lord 
Mansfield, years ago, made an attempt to settle the point 
according to an ad valorem scale ; setting every horse down 
as sound in the eye of the law, whose value or cost amount- 
ed to a certain sum. This, of course, was law that never 
could hold in horse transactions. 

Lord Ellenborough legislated with a great deal more 
knowledge of horse-flesh. 

The law he laid down was, that an7/ infirmity which 
rendered a horse less fit for present use or convenience, 
constituted unsoundness — a law which, though it admitted 
of great latitude of construction, and to some special 
cases did not prove applicable at all, was still a whole- 
some and practicable one in a majority of cases of dispute. 

Lord Tenterden made but little improvement on it, when 
be pronounced every horse unsound that could not go 
through the same labor as before the existence of the de- 
fect or blemish in dispute, and with the same degrees of 
facility. 

Professor Coleman's notion was that every horse ought 
to be considered sound that could perform the ordinary 
duties of an ordinary horse. This definition is open to the 
same objections as the judicial laws of Lords Mansfield and 
Tenterden. Mange, diseases of the eye (so long as they 
are confined to one eye,) nay, glanders, and farcy even, in 
certain stages, and some other diseases, do not incapacitate 
a horse, and yet they all amount to palpable unsoundness. 
On the other hand, many a horse, from age or want of con- 
dition, or from possessing a constitution naturally weak or 
washy, is unfitted for what might be considered the ordi- 



ON SOUNDNIJSS. Ij 

nary duties of an ordinary horse, and yet cannot bo called 
unsound. Then, agnin, comes for explanation, what are 
to be regarded as the ordinary duties, and what we are to 
look upon as an ordinary horse ? both presumptions equal- 
ly indefinable with Lord Ellenborough's standard of fitness, 
and Lord Tenterden's status qtio before the existence of 
the defect or blemish. 

The late Mr. Castley, veterinary surgeon to the 12th 
Lancers — whose opinions on this subject, as well as on 
every other, his habits of acute and accurate observation 
rendered of peculiar value to us — felt inclined, to use his 
own words, *' to steer a middle course," in accordance 
with which ho ventured on the following propositions : First, 
TJiat all recognised disease constitutes unsoundness for the 
time being. Secondly, That changes of structure, or an 
altered condition of parts, and derangement or impairment 
of function, are allowed by all to be our two great land- 
marks in conducting examinations for soundness. The 
first of these propositions may fairly be included in the 
second ; all disease consisting either in change of structure 
or change of function, and most diseases involving both 
these changes. And in regard to the second rule for our 
guidance, obvious and decisive as are changes of structure, 
combined with, deranged or impaired function of parts in 
general, there are still some of that trifling or uninfluential 
nature that can hardly, when they do exist, be looked 
upon as unsoundness; such are chronic or partial dis- 
eases of certain parts or organs, the obliteration of a vein 
or artery, for example, the conversion of fibro-cartilage 
into bone, as in splint, chronic or partial disease of such an 
organ as the liver, etc., etc." 

Our present inquiry into the nature of soundness being 
restricted to its relation to lameness, and it being our in- 



12 ON SOUNDNESS. 

tention here to deal with broad principles, leaTing the 
nicer shades of distinction for consideration until such time 
as we come to treat of particular lameness, we may safely 
say that every horse showing lameness must be pro- 
nounced unsound ; although the converse of this, as a fun- 
damental principle, will by no means hold good — every 
horse not showing lameness not necessarily being (consid- 
ered as) a sound horse. For instance, a horse may have a 
spavin, or a curb, or a swollen back sinew, and still evince 
no lameness, even though he may show marks of having 
been fired or blistered for the same, and so give us every 
reason to believe that formerly he has experienced actual 
lameness from one or other of these defects. Would, 
however, any veterinary surgeon, under these circum- 
stances, give a certificate of soundness? If he did, it must 
be qualified in a manner that would little induce any per- 
son to purchase such a horse, unless at a price consonant 
with the evident reduction of its value. It will be requi- 
site, therefore, for us to say, not simply that every lame 
horse is unsound, but to add the words, or that has that 
about him tvhich is likely on tvork to render him lame. This 
will, it is true, open the door to difference of opinion and 
equivocation. There, may, as we have seen, spring up 
two opinions concerning the presence even of lameness. 
There will in more cases be two opinions concerning that 
which is accounted to be the precursor of lameness, or 
have a tendency at some period, proximate or remote, to 
produce lameness ; all which differences are best got rid of 
by. reference to the ablest veterinary advice.*-- There will 
be less diversity of opinion among professional men than 
among others, and the more skillful and respectable the 
professional persons are, the greater will be the probability 
of a happy unison in their views of the case. To lay down 



ON SOUNDNESS. 13 

any statute laiv which shall meet such cases as these, is, 
from the very nature of vital structures and functions, 
totally an impossihle matter. 

We ought to be able to establish it as an axiom, although 
it may prove one not unassailable by argument, that a 
lame horse is an unsound horse. It might be objected, for 
example, that a horse having a stone in his foot— (than 
which nothing, for the time, renders a horse more lame) — 
should be regarded as unsound ; and yet by this rule he 
must be so considered as long as he continues lame, though 
as sound from the moment that the stone is removed. The 
shoe, nailed on too tight, furnishes another similar exam- 
ple. A horse, quite sound, enters a forge to be shod, and 
comes out going, as grooms call it, scrambling, i. e., lame; 
he is, in fact, no longer a sound horse ; take him back, 
however, into the forge, and remove his shoes, nail them 
on easy, and, if not completely restored to soundness, he is 
thereby evidently so much relieved as to give pretty fair 
earnest of his becoming well, or as sound as ever, by the next 
or the following day. It may be said, and we quite agree 
in the reply, that such trivial points as these are not likely 
to come before us for decision, or to cause us any trouble 
if they do ; still it is right we should be armed on all sides 
to defend that law which we, as professional men, deem it 
wholesome and just to lay down ; viz. : That every horse 
going lame {no matter from ivhat cause) ought to he pro- 
nounced unsound. 

If any real objection can be urged to the institution of 
such a law, one presents itself in the case of a horse that 
is lame at one time and sound at another; for instance, a 
horse may have a frush, or thrush, of which he shall flinch, 
or go palpably lame every time he happens to tread upon 
a stonC; or whenever he goes upon hard, uneven surfaces, 



14 ON SOUNDNESS. 

though at other times, upon soft ground, or upon turf, he 
will appear quite sound. This horse, we thinls, stands, 
in respect to the question of soundness, altogether in a dif- 
ferent position from either the stone-in-the-foot or the 
tight-shoe case : here is disease — demonstrahle disease ; 
and although it gives rise but occasionally to lameness, 
still, as lameness is at times the result, we hold that the 
horse ought to be accounted unsound. The spavin — in 
certain forms — affords another example of temporary or 
transitory lameness; a spavined horse may coqje excess- 
ively lame out of his stable in the morning, but after hav- 
ing gone a while and waxed warm, will no longer exhibit 
lameness or even stiffness of his hock. In accordance with 
the laws of the judges, and with that of our late Professor 
(Coleman), such a horse being not less fit for present use 
or convenience, being able to go through the same labor as 
before the defect or blemish, able to perform the ordinary 
duties of an ordinary horse— such a horse, we repeat, must 
be pronounced, so long as he continues in this aptitude, to 
be sound; whereas, however much we may differ concern- 
ing other points, we believe all veterinarians will concur 
with us in the opinion in declaring the occasionally lame 
spavined — if not the lame frushed — horse to be unsound, 
notwithstanding his redeeming quality of becoming sound 
on work, and of continuing so to the end of that work. 

However strong we may feel ourselves in our axiom, that 
a lame horse must be accounted unsound, the moment, as 
we observed before, we attempt the converse of it — viz., 
that every horse free from lameness is (as respects the 
question of lameness) to be held as sound, we change into 
a position most infirm and untenable. All sorts of diseases 
and defects stare us In the face, which, though not the im- 
mediate producers of lameness, too surely, in our minds, 



ON SOUNDNESS. 15 

betoken its approach, waiting only for work or other ex- 
citing cause for its development ; and with such hetoken- 
ment before us it is quite impossible we can, with any show 
of reason or equity, pronounce the horse having them, not- 
withstanding he at the time goes free from lameness, to be 
virtually a sound horse ; for how can we in conscience call 
that horse sound that we know has that about him which 
will probably — nay, certainly, cause him to become lame 
the first long or heavy day's work he is put to perform ? 
As well might we call an apple or a pear sound which we 
know to be rotten at the core ; and yet, strictly and liter- 
ally speaking, the animal goes sound — is as sound in action, 
to appearance, as is the rotten apple or pear. In cases 
where so much difficulty — nay, impossibility, presents it- 
self to the drawing of a distinction between the two op- 
posite, and (as we may call them) abhorrent states of 
soundness and unsoundness, it has struck us some good 
might arise from a division of unsoundness into actual and 
prospective, the latter denomination indicating a state of 
transient or trustless soundness. 

Notwithstanding a horse may be free from lameness, 
may go sound, yet, so long as he has that about him which 
will probably or surely render him lame the first time he 
is put to hard work, he is virtually an unsound horse, in 
honesty unwarrantable ; and the best denomination we are 
able to find for such a failable condition— a sort of inter- 
mediate state between soundness and unsoundness— is 
2>rospective unsoundness. So far as abstract action is con- 
cerned, the horse, it is true, must be regarded as sounds 
although that which he has upon him, making him liable 
or certain to become lame whenever he is put to excess of 
action or work, certainly stands in the way of any warranty 
of soundness being given. 



16 ON SOUND X ESS. 

Prospective unsoundness, however, although it relieves 
us from the necessity of doing that which no professional 
man conscientiously can do in very many of the subjects 
brought before him — viz., of pronouncing the horse either 
actually sound or unsound — yet unfortunately it opens a 
door through which crowds of cases, really doubtful in 
their character or rendered so by the variety of opinions 
given on them, are ready to be forced in, and made to 
perplex us in coming to any proper or judicious selection of 
them. One horse has manifest disease, in some form or 
another, as the cause of his being pronounced likely or cer- 
tain to go lame at no very remote period; his case admits 
of no question. But another horse has no disease, only a 
malformationy a deformity, or misshapenness, the result of 
which is weakness of limb and consequent liability to fail- 
ure — to lameness, in fact. A third horse has neither dis- 
ease nor deformity, nothing but a bad habit, and that is 
said to amount to unsoundness; and it is the cases that 
come under one or other of these latter denominations — 
which are the offspring either of natural defect, of use or 
wear, or of habit — that, for the most part, puzzle veterin- 
ary practitioners in coming to judicious decisions on sound- 
ness. 

To elucidate these observations by example : A horso 
may have a spavin or a curb, or a swollen or fired back 
sinew — any disease, in short, from which, on exertion, ho 
is likely, as our experience tells us, to become lame ; such 
a horse is prospectively unsound. But suppose he have a 
club foot, a parrot mouth, bent limbs, curved or curly- 
looking hocks, narrow or flat feet, weak joints, a hip down, 
etc. — all natural deformities or malformations, none of them 
coming fairly or popularly under the category of disease — 
what is to be done in passing judgment upon them ? The 



ON SOUNDNESS. 17 

equitable adjudication appears to be, as in the case of dis- 
ease, to declare that any of them constitutes unsoundness 
that is probable or certain to give rise, on work, to lame- 
ness; but then we shall experience difificulty, in some of 
the cases, in drawing the line between actual lameness 
and natural fixiling or weakness. A horse foaled with evi- 
dent deficiency of physical power, partial or general, can 
hardly be called unsound; though should he have that 
about him which renders it likely he will, when put to 
work, become actually lame, he ought, assuredly, be pro- 
nounced prosjjectivcly so. Cutting (as striking one foot 
against its fellow leg is called), arise from whatever cause 
it may, is apt to produce occasional lameness, and when it 
does so is fairly regarded as a species of prospective un- 
soundness. Springhalt is action so unnatural that some 
do not hesitate to affirm it to be a species of unsoundness, 
though it is a well-known fact that many horses so affected 
will do the same amount of work as it is reasonable to- 
suppose they would or could do were they free from it. 
After all, as the foregoing observations will abundantly 
testify, a good deal in the decisions between soundness 
and unsoundness must be left to the skill and judgment of 
the professional man ; he alone can unriddle the true na- 
ture of the case, and form a just estimate of the proba- 
bilities of lameness; and if he be but trustworthy and 
honest in his opinions, he is, beyond question, the prefera- 
ble authority in such cases of appeal for advice. 

When we, as men acquainted with the animal economy, 
consider the multiplicity of evils even quadruped flesh is 
heir to, and reflect in how many ways its health and action 
may become impaired, and how graduated down those im- 
pairn^ents may be into states of indisputable soundness, we 
have no right to feel surprised at the intricacy in which we 



18 ON SOUNDNESS. 

flud the subject before us involved, no more than we have, 
in a strictly pathological point of view, at the comparative 
paucity of sound horses coming under our observation. 
The separation of monomania in man from oddity or ec- 
centricity is hardly more difficult than resolving the ques- 
tion of soundness in its dubious or transitory form is in 
horses; a great deal, after all, must be matter of opinion, 
and those opinions will ever prove best worthy our reliance 
which are founded on the widest experience, coupled with 
the best character for honesty. 

No more responsible duty attaches to a professional man 
than that of giving a certificate of soundness* : by it the war- 
ranty of the dealer or vender is either confirmed or falsi- 
fied, the purchase completed or set on one side, the value 
of the animal either established or destroyed; on all which 
accounts the veterinarian is pledged, not only to use his 
hundred eyes in making the examination, but also his 
maturest judgment in diving into the nature of any unsound- 
ness he may discover, as well as into its positive or prob- 
able efiect on the action or capabilities of the animal, both 
present and to come. This leads us, before we close the 
subject, to inform our readers, that unless a certificate of 
soundness or unsoundness be obtained from qualified and 
actual professional men, it ought not to be of any value, not 
only from their want of knowledge, but in those cases you 
will find that the more ignorant the quack is, the more he 
will imagine himself capable ; besides, those men, as you 
will find, overrun almost every city in the United States, 
put on appearance, such as stylish dress, and drive a dash- 
ing wagon and pair; all this is done to deceive and attract 
the public — a sort of advertisement— thinking, that as he 

* As the United States are so overrun with quacks and impostors personat- 
ing themselves as Veterinary Surgeons, certificates on soundness and unsound- 
ness can be obtained from such men by purchase, i. e., bribe. 



ON SOUNDNESS. 19 

cannot merit talent, he may merit appearance, and by that, 
cause the public to think more of him. To further acquaint 
our readers, and caution them against placing any value on 
certificates obtained from quacks and such class of men, 
we shall here give a case that took place in Brooklyn, New 
York. A bay mare seven years old was sold to a butcher 
for $250.00, by a sale stable keeper, and warranted sound, 
kind, and true in all harness. The butcher took him right 
away to a man (calling himself a veterinary surgeon, and 
doing a first-class business, driving a dashing team), for 
examining. This quack pronounced the mare mzsound, and 
obtained $5.00. On the sale stable keeper hearing this, 
be started off to the man who examined the mare, and ask- 
ed him how could he do such a thing, as it will injure 
him ? — to pass the mare as sound and he will give him 
$20.00. The quack said, as an excuse, I will examine her 
again, which he did, and passed her as sound; this I can 
vouch for, having heard it from the sale stable keeper, as 
well as from the butcher; and I was shown the mare some 
time afterwards, and found that she was unsound, having a 
spavin of the off leg, and lame. This will inform our read- 
ers of the value of certificates obtained from such class of 
men. 

I shall make a few remarks regarding the soundness and 
unsoundness in cases of pulmonary disease, as cases are 
recorded of horses being sold as sound, and in a day or 
two the animal showed signs of pneumonia or pleurisy, 
and the animal died within eight or ten days from the date 
of purchase. The purchaser, in such a case, contends that 
the horse must have been diseased at the time of purchase, 
and not sound, as represented on the warranty ; but in 
such an opinion the purchaser is greatly mistaken, as a 
horse might be sound on the day of sale, but the removal 



20 ON SOUNDNESS. 

of the animal to another stable; the exposure of the animal 
to the wind or damp air, may produce a pulmonary disease, 
and prove fatal within two to ten days. To justify me in 
that opinion, I shall quote from Mr. Percival, (in Lecture 
xxxviii, p. 323,) who says: ''Pulmonary disease runs its 
course now and then with surprising rapidity. I have 
known a horse to be attacked with acute pneumonia, and 
to die from it in the space of seventeen hours ; and it is by 
no means uncommon for it to prove fatal on the second or 
third day from its onset. Ignorance of this fact has led 
to the institution of many lawsuits, and to some oppressive 
judicial arbitrations for horse-dealers ; e. g., a gentleman 
purchases a young horse, warranted sound, and tlie next 
day, or the day after, rides or drives the animal, unpre- 
pared for fatigue, and consequently unable to bear it, by 
way of trial ; the day following this trial, or rather ordeal, 
the horse refuses his food, blows a little, and soon after 
manifests a severe attack of pneumonia, of which, within a 
few days or weeks from his purchase, he dies. An action 
is immediately brought against the dealer ; some blunder- 
ing, ignorant farrier, on the part of the plaintiflT, swears 
that the animal, when opened, was found as rotten as a 
pear, and that he must consequejitly have been diseased 
long before he teas bought. The result is that the dealer is 
cast, and the gentleman recovers his money ; now, in the 
generality of these cases, the very reverse of this is the ab- 
solute truth; the animal was perfectly sound at the time 
of purchase, and was made otherwise solely by the exer- 
tion his purchaser put him to ; and so far from the rotten- 
ness of the lungs, or agglutination of them to the sides of 
the chest, being proofs of the contrary, I have seen the one 
produced in seventeen hours, and know, from extensive 
observation, that the other, viz., blackness and engorge- 



ON SOUNDNESS. 21 

ment of them with blood, or something like an approach to 
mortification (for rottenness is an expression that has here 
DO definite meaning whatever), may take place iu the 
course of four-and-twenty hours. Indeed, when pneumo- 
nia proves fatal, it most commonly does so in the course of 
the first three, or four, or five days; if it continue beyond 
this, or there be any remission, it is always a ftivorable in- 
dication. In these cases, the lungs themselves, as I have 
just stated, are found nearly black, of the color of the 
darkest venous blood, with which they are prodigiously 
glutted ; the pleura also displays a surface highly vascular, 
and adhesions are occasionally discovered upon it. 

I shall now give a list of the various diseases and infirm- 
ities that are usually supposed to cause unsoundness, viz. : 

BnoKEN Knees are considered as unsoundness, while 
the wound is open, or from an enlargement caused thereby, 
or from the wound being of such a nature as to interfere 
with the action of the joint, or where the horse goes lame 
from the injury. 

Capped Hocks are considered as unsoundness, as the 
difficulty of ascertaining whether the enlargement was 
caused from merely lying on uneven flooring, from a sprain, 
or from latent injury of the hock, causes the decision to 
be given in such a manner as to guard against future trou- 
bles, and to protect the purchaser from having a crip- 
pled horse, after supposing him to be a sound one. 

CoNTEACTiON is Considered as unsoundness only when 
considerable heat is felt at the posterior portion of the 
foot, where the frog is diseased, or when lameness is present. 

Cop.NS are considered as unsoundness when they are of a 
size as to, in all probability, cause the horse to be lame at 
some future time, or if he is lame at the time. 

Cough is considered as unsoundness, no matter how 



22 ON SOUNDNESS. 

slight or trivial, as it can run on to some fatal pulmonary 
disease, and in many cases become of a chronic nature, 
■which will, in some degree, impair the health of the animal, 
and render him far less able to perform the same work 
than he would be if the chronic cough was not present. 

Cataract and other alterations of the structure in the 
eyes, that impede, or are likely to impede vision, are to be 
considered as unsoundness. 

Crib-biting is considered as unsoundness ; as, though 
at first but a vicious habit, its ultimate effect is to iujuro 
both strength and condition, besides the occasional break- 
ing or wearing of the front teeth, making the animal old 
before his time, and sometimes rendering it difficult or im- 
possible for him to graze, when it is absolutely necessary 
for the benefit of the animal that he should be turned out 
to grass. 

Curbs are considered as unsoundness, (unless the horse 
has worked with them for many months without injury or 
inconvenience,) or should there be inflammation or tender- 
ness of the parts, or the animal lame. A horse is not return- 
able if he starts a curb in five minutes after the purchase, 
as it can be done in a moment, and does not necessarily 
Indicate any previous unsoundness, or weakness of the 
part. 

Cutting is considered as unsoundness, as it is liable to 
render the animal seriously injured by its oft-repeated 
striking; it thickens the parts and enlarges the fetlock, 
and very often the entire leg is swollen to a great extent; 
it is also indicative that he is either weak, or has an awk- 
wardness of gait inconsistent with safety, which may be 
deemed a serious imperfection. Cutting on the inside, im- 
mediately below the knee joint, called speedy cut, is also 
a material defect, as it sometimes causes the horse to fall 



ON SOUNDNi:SS. 23 

suddenly in trotting or galloping, and in many instances 
interferes with the action of the knee joint, and renders the 
animal seriously crippled. 

Cold is considered as unsoundness while the animal is 
suflering from it as, however slight the cold may be, it is 
difiScult to ascertain if it may not be the forerunner of some 
serious cerebral or pulmonary disease; if the cold be 
chronic, then it is actual unsoundness, as it interferes with 
the health of the animal, and causes him to be much weak- 
er, and liable to exhaustion when given extra work. 

Enlarged Glais^ds are considered unsoundness ; if the 
engorgement under the jaw is of a large size, tender to the 
touch, and if the gland at the root of the ear partakes of 
the enlargement, and the membrane of the nose is redder 
than it should be, we must then look on those signs as a 
symptom of disease. 

Enlaeged Hock: is considered as unsoundness, as it is 
generally caused from strains; and, as this joint is a compli- 
cated one, it will be materially affected by a strahi, although 
the probability may be that the horse will stand work with- 
out lameness; there is absolutely a weakness of the part, 
and a possibility of lameness at any moment after a hard 
day's work. 

There is an enlargement of the hock, caused by kicks or 
blows, or other external injuries, which must not he mis- 
taken for one caused from strains, as one is merely an en- 
largement of the skin, or immediately under it, or on the 
outside of the bone, while the other is a strain of the liga- 
ments which confine the small bones of the bock; the one 
caused from some external injury may be designated as a 
blemish only. 

Eyes Affected are to be considered as unsoundness so 
long as the eyes are at all affected, no matter how slightly, 



24 ON SOUNDNESS. 

as, this organ being of such a delicate nature, any disease 
of the eye may terminate in blindness; a slight cold may so 
weaken the eyes that a local iuflammation may arise, from 
which it may run on to an obstinate case of ophthalmia, 
then to a cataract, and finally blindness. 

Enlargement of the Sinews or Ligaments is to be 
considered as unsoundness, as it is caused from severe 
strain, not only so that the tendons are inflamed, but often 
trouble arises from effusion of blood in the sheath, and 
the disease, whether trivial or severe, should never be 
thought hghtly of, as it in all probability may render the 
animal a cripple ; lameness may not be present, but such a 
horse is to be looked on as in duty bound to go lame at any 
moment, and is in all cases an unsound one. 

Founder is considered as unsoundness, whether in the 
acute or chronic form ; as the elasticity of the laminae is 
somewhat destroyed, and the foot generally assumes an 
utterly unnatural shape, if not in the external appearance, 
most invariably in the internal portion of the foot. When 
the disease has been going on for some time, the elastic sub- 
stances between the lamiuaj and the pedal bone, as well as 
the fine horny lamellae between them and the crust, lose the 
property of extension, and the horn of the crust is secreted 
by nature of a more spongy character, and much thicker in 
substance, than in health ; the sole is always flatter than 
natural, and causes in many instances the convex sole; 
besides, from the nature of the disease, the muscles of the 
chest generally waste away from want of proper action, 
caused by the attitude of the animal during the disease; no 
matter how well the animal might appear after an attack 
of founder (Laminitis) no person can give a warranty on 
such a horse, as he is liable at any time, from the slightest 
chill, or other slight causes, to be attacked again. In fact. 



ON SOUXDNESS. 25 

be is actually susceptible to the disease, having once bad 
it, and lameness might appear at any moment. 

Farcy constitutes unsoundness, no matter if the disease 
has been made to entirely disappear, and the animal ap- 
pear in perfect health ; as farcy is a disease of the absorb- 
ents, it is not only a difficult matter, but almost impossible, 
to thoroughly eradicate the poison from the system, and 
the animal might be attacked with it at any time, with 
scarcely any premonitory symptoms, and die in a very 
short period after the second attack. 

Glanders constitutes unsoundness {see Farcy), as the 
two diseases are similar in their nature, only difiering in 
the mode of attack, and all said on farcy is applicable to 
glanders. 

GuTTA Serena constitutes unsoundness, although the 
eyes appear natural to an ordinary observer; yet, if but one 
eye is affected, it is an unsound horse. 

Lameness constitutes unsoundness, no matter from what 
cause, however temporary it may be, or obscure, there must 
be disease or alteration of structure, which must lessen the 
usefulness of tbe animal, and render bim unsound for the 
time. Lord Ellenborough says, " I have always held, and 
now bold, that a warranty of soundness is broken, if 
the animal, at the time of sale, has an infirmity upon bira 
which renders bim less fit for present service." It is not 
necessary that tbe disorder should be permanent or incu- 
rable. The horse in question having been lame at tbe time 
of sale, when he was warranted to be sound, bis condition 
subsequently is no defense to the action ; see 4 Campbell 
251, Elt09i vs. Brogden. Mr. Baron Parke confirms this 
doctrine ; for while a horse is lame, it would really be not 
only contrary to common sense, but conflicting with tbe 
English language, to say that be was sound j besides; the 



26 ON SOUNDNESS. 

actual custom; and decisions by various courts, regards a 
lame horse as an unsouud one. 

Megeims are considered unsoundness, for under this 
somewhat obscure name we have vertigo, apoplexy, con- 
vulsions from various causes, etc.; but no matter what 
may be the actual nature of the disease, as megrims, it is 
an unsoundness, as it is a disease, whether it be caused 
from a fullness of the blood-vessels of the brain, or by 
water in its ventricles or cavities, or from a rupture of a 
small blood-vessel — they are all dangerous in their action, 
and a horse once attacked is predisposed to a second, 
a third, and repeated attacks, endangering the life of his 
driver the entire time he is being used, and, as Mr. Youatt 
says: "That a horse that has had a second attack is 
never to be trusted." 

Neuhotomy is to be considered as unsoundness, as un- 
soundness by us means any defect in (or absence of) any 
vital j)ortion of the animal's structure, so as to render him 
liable at any time to suffer from the want of it, unless an 
argument can be established that nature gave the nerve 
for no use whatever, which could not be very well done. 
A horse may stand work well after the operation, but from 
the want of that nervous influence, various troubles might 
arise, and render the animal unfit for use. Chief- Justice 
Best held that a horse having had the operation of neurot- 
omy performed on him, is an unsound horse; and Mr. 
Youatt says, in his opinion, there cannot be any doubt 
about the matter. 

Ossification of the lateral cartilages is considered as 
unsoundness, as it interferes with the natural expansion of 
the foot, and in horses of quick work, almost universally 
produces lameness. Says Mr. Youatt, this is absolutely a 
serious disease, involving, in many instances, the pedal 



ON SOUNDNESS. 27 

bone. It is caused by concussion, and renders the animal 
sore and travel-sliort a day after he has had any work, 
especially over hard and rugged streets. 

Pumiced Foot is considered unsoundness when the 
union between the horny and sensible laminae, or little 
plates of the foot, is weakened, and the coffin-bone is let 
down and presses upon the sole ; '^ when the sole yields to 
this unnatural weight, and becomes rounded, and is brought 
in contact with the ground, and is bruised and injured, 
that horse must be unsound, and unsound forever, because 
there are no means by which we can raise the coffin-bone 
again into its place," says Mr. Youatt. 

Paealysis is to be considered as unsoundness, as it is a 
disorganization of some part of the nervous system, and 
must be considered as such ; although great difficulty may 
arise to trace it to its seat, yet sufficient is known of the 
disease to designate it as an unsoundness. Yarious causes 
might be the means of bringing on this trouble, but no 
matter the cause, the result is what we are to deal with; 
an animal having been once affected, is very much predis- 
posed to a future attack, besides the actual weakness that 
must remain for some time at the spot where the disease 
was seated ; and the onl^ manner in which a horse that 
has had paralysis could be warranted, is, after the animal 
has been worked as an ordinary horse, and for a time 
not less than twelve months, without showing any sign^of 
its return. 

QuiTTOR is to be considered as unsoundness, (no matter 
jf the abscess ceases to discharge its humor and the wound 
healed,) should any enlargement of the coronet remain, or 
the foot in any manner altered in its size or shape from its 
fellow ; for if an enlargement remain, we might be certain 
that the cartilages have been affected ; and if the foot be 



28 ON SOUNDNESS. 

in any way altered in its structure, we may also come to 
the conclusion that some of the hones of the foot, as well 
as the cartilages, are affected, and the animal liable to go 
lame at any moment. 

QuiDDiNG is an unsoundness when confirmed, and can- 
not be stopped by various means; for instance, quidding 
might be caused from a sore mouth, and after the sore is 
healed he ceases to quid ; also, from sharp edges of his 
teeth, or from irregularity of them, which could be reme- 
died by filing off the edges, or filing off, or extracting the 
teeth or tooth that causes the irregularity, and he will 
cease to quid. But if he quids from none of the causes 
named, or from any cause that cannot be treated so as to 
remove the continuance of the habit, then it is unsound- 
ness, as it materially impairs the usefulness of the animal, 
and his constitution so affected as to make him almost a 
living skeleton, as in many instances a morbid state of the 
pharynx is induced by giving balls improperly, which ren- 
ders deglutition difficult, and sometimes impossible. Mr. 
Armatage says, " Sometimes there is a partial palsy of the 
muscles employed in deglutition, by which the animal has 
been gradually starved ; therefore such a termination to 
any disease, or vice, or whatever it may be termed, must 
be considered as unsoundness." 

Ringbone is to be considered as unsoundness, no matter 
how small the tumor may be, or the animal traveling with- 
out showing any signs of lameness; the situation of this 
disease is such, that, from the action of the foot, and the 
stress upon the part, the inflammation and the formation 
of bone may acquire a tendency to spread so rapidly, that 
we must pronounce the slightest enlargement of the pas- 
terns, or around the coronet, to be unsoundness ; according 
to Mr. Youatt, it is somewhat similar to ossification of the 
lateral cartilages. 



ON SOUNDNESS. 29 

Eheumatism is to be considered as unsoundness, as, in 
most instances; an animal once attacked is predisposed to 
it again on the slightest cause, and very often the attack 
is periodical. Chronic rheumatism of the muscles is 
more lasting than the acute, as during its slow process, it 
often flies from one jpart to another, attacking the ligaments 
and tendons, as well as the muscular fibres; it is seldom 
much under control, and the animal's general health suf- 
fers, but a horse attacked with rheumatism after he comes 
into the hand of the purchaser is not returnable, unless the 
purchaser can prove that he was so attacked previously. 

EoAEiNG, Broken- Wind, Thick- Wind, are to be con- 
sidered as unsoundness, as it is a disease of some of the 
muscles whose ofiice is to dilate the larynx; they are some- 
what wasted away and flabby (crico-arytenoidens lateralis 
and thyro-arytenoidens) and other muscles are no doubt 
equally atrophied. The causes of roaring are said to be of 
three kinds by Mr. Walsh. ''First, inflammation, which has 
left a thickening or ulceration of the mucous membrane, or 
a fungous growth from it ; secondly, paralysis of the mus- 
cle; and thirdly, an alteration of the shape of the cartilages 
of the larynx, produced by tight reining. Therefore, a horse 
whose mode of breathing is not only disagreeable to his 
driver, but injurious to himself, is unsound; as it is caused 
from disease, and must impair that portion of the muscles 
so afl"ected as to be of some vital injury to the animal, should 
he ever be attacked with any pulmonary disease. 

The other two diseases named are similar to unsound- 
ness, they being only modifications of roaring. 

Sand-Crack, Quarter-Crack, is to be considered as 
unsoundness. Mr. Youatt says, ''It may, however, occur 
without the slightest warning, and no horse can be reject- 
ed on account of sand-crack that has been sprung after 



30 ON SOUNDNESS. 

purchase." A horse may travel well, but as he is likely to 
be lame at any time, and seriously so, it renders him an 
unsound horse. 

Spavin-Bone is an unsoundness, unless the animal has 
had it on him for years, and showed no lameness during 
that time. To give the reader an idea, we would say that 
if a horse nine years old or thereabouts, has a spavin, 
and goes well, showing no signs of lameness on taking him 
from his stall after some rest, and proof is given that he 
has had that enlargement on him for two or three years, 
he is not an unsound horse; but if a young horse of four to 
six years old have on him a spavin, and it has been there 
but a few months, even if he is no.t lame, he can never be 
passed as a sound horse, as it is probable that on the bony 
deposit extending itself over the joint of the hock, the small 
bones, or even the larger ones, may become aflected as to 
render him lame for life ; therefore, the motto for bone-spa- 
vin is, ''Consider him unsound until time has proved him 
otherwise." 

Spavin-Bog or Blood is to be considered as unsound- 
ness when there is any lameness present, no matter how 
slight, or if much heat is felt at the parts, as Mr. Touatt 
says, *'he considers it as an unsoundness, because, although 
it may not be productive of lameness at slow work, the 
rapid and powerful action of the hock in quicker motion 
will produce permanent, yet perhaps not considerable 
lameness, which can scarcely ever be with certainty re- 
moved." 

Mr. Spooner says: '' Blood-spavin is certainly unsound- 
ness, unless extremely slight, although in the majority of 
cases it does not cause lameness." 

Mr. Armatage says: '• If bog-spavin be very slight, and 
unattended with stiffness, I do not consider them as un- 



ON SOUNDNESS. 31 

soundness ; if, however, they are considerable, or attended 
with the slightest stififness, they must be considered as 
such." 

Splint is to be considered as unsoundness, if, according 
to its situation, likely to affect the action of a joint, or to 
press upon any tendon or ligament ; or if recent, and evinc- 
ing tenderness on being pressed; or if they are so large as 
to be struck by the other leg; but if they are small or 
moderate in size, and have existed for some time without 
occasioning lameness, then the animal may be considered 
as sound, provided the animal is about eight or nine years 
old; but in a young horse, of about five or six years old, it 
should be guarded against by a sufficient warranty, though 
no lameness be present. 

Speedy Cut is to be considered as unsoundness, as the 
probability is that it has been caused by striking the other 
leg, just below the knee-joint, with the other foot, which 
is generally the result of high-action horses ; and the pos- 
sibility of its extending so near to the knee-joint as to in- 
terfere with its action, as the horse is so much more likely 
to continue striking the part after it is enlarged than pre- 
viously, and if he did before the enlargement was present, 
he must strike it now more severely, and keep up an inces- 
sant irritation, which must eventually lame the animal ; 
the use of the knee-boot does not in any way lessen tbe dis- 
ease — it may only be the means of keeping off his lameness 
to a later date ; and the only case where he can be passed 
as a sound horse is when (as in splint or spavin) he has 
had it on him for some time, without occasioning lameness, 
and is of an advanced age ; otherwise he is unsound. 

Steinghalt is to be considered as unsoundness, as it is 
incurable, and being a disease traced to some morbid 
alteration of structure or function. Mr. C. Spooner con- 



32 ON SOUI^DA^ESS. 

siders that '' in the majority of cases it is owing to dis- 
ease of the great sciatic nerve, whicli governs the muscles 
of the bind extremity ; nervous energy is thus imperfectly 
supplied, and, consequently, the more powerful muscles act 
the most. It is often connected with disease of the hock, 
and is sometimes preceded by it." 

Mr. Youatt says that " it rarely or never fails to deterio- 
rate, and gradually wear out, the animal ; therefore, bow- 
ever stylish a rider may feel on his horse, with striugbalfc 
in botb hind legs be must consider that he has an unsound 
horse." 

THiCKE:N^rN'G OF THE BACK SiNETVS is to be considered 
as unsoundness, as it is the result of a sprain or strain, 
causing an inflammation and thickening ; the disease may 
continue for months without auy lameness, and with 
nothing to draw attention to it. Mr. Walsh says, that in 
thickening of the tendon or its sheath, however well the 
animal might appear to be, yet '^at length, an unusually 
severe day's work sets up active inflammation, the leg 
rapidly fills, and there is so much lameness as to cause the 
horse to be thrown." 

Mr. Youatt says : '^ The continuance of any considerable 
thickness around the sheaths of the tendons, indicates pre- 
vious violent sprain. This very thickening will fetter the 
action of the tendons, and, after much quick work, will 
occasionally renew the inflammation and lameness; there- 
fore, such a horse cannot be sound." 

ThoPwOUGHpin is to be considered as unsoundness, if of 
an extensive size and causing lameness. On reference to 
bog-spavin, the reader will find that all the arguments 
used there are applicable to this disease. 

Thrush is to be considered as unsoundness, as it is pro- 
ductive of canker, which renders the animal totally unfit 



ON SOUNDNESS. 33 

for any use. Most horses, while suffering with thrush in 
its mild form, work and travel well, but, as Mr. Touatt re- 
marks, it is a disease, i. e., ^' inflammation of the lower 
surface of the inner or sensible frog, and the secretion or 
throwing out of pus, almost invariably accompanied by a 
slight degree of tenderness of the frog itself, involving 
separation of the horn from the parts beneath, and under- 
running, ending in the production of fungus and canker, 
and, ultimately, a diseased state of the foot, destructive of 
the present; and dangerous to the future usefulness of the 
animal." 

Wind Galls are to be considered as unsoundness only 
when they are very large and numerous, and the animal 
lame thereby. 

Wind Sucker is to be considered as unsoundness, as, 
although but a vice at first, it becomes so natural to the 
animal, that he will continue doing it, generally causing 
indigestion, colic, and tending to lower his condition. 

Mr. Williams, from whom we quote, says, that " a wind 
sucker gathers air into his mouth and swallows it, blowing 
himself out, sometimes to a tremendous size ; a wind suck- 
er, being subject to colic and indigestion, must be consid- 
ered as unsound." 

Grease, Mange, Ruptures or Hernia of all kinds. 
Enlargement of Sinews, Atrophy of any muscle, dis- 
eases of any of the internal viscera, lameness of all kinds 
and degrees, are to be considered as unsoundness during 
the time the animal is suffering from any of them. 

Those defects comprehended under the term Blemishes 
are enumerated by Mr. Armatage as follows : 

''Scars, the effects of broken knees; capped hocks, 
splints, bog-spavin and thoroughpin, when they are very 
slight ; loss of hair from blisters or from scars ; enlarge- 



34 ON WAERANTY. 

ments from blowa or cutting; specks or streaks in the 
cornea (eye); and a few other defects unnecessary to 
mention." 

Under the term Vices wo comprehend restiveness, shy- 
iug, bolting, balking repeatedly, running away, kicking, 
rearing, biting, kicking in the stable or when shoeing, 
weaving or moving the head from side to side, quidding, 
chewing the rope of his halter, and slipping the halter. 



ON WARRANTY. 

In the purchase of a horse, the buyer usually receives, 
embodied in his receipt, what is ^rmed a Warranty. It 
should be thus expressed : 

•' Received of Mr this day of 

187 , the sum of Dollars for a war- 
ranted only years old, sound, free from vice, and 

quiet to ride or drive in all harness." Or, " Warranted free 

from vice and blemish, except " Or, '* Warranted 

in every respect, except " Or, ''Warranted to 

have been constantly driven both in single and double har- 
ness, to have carried a lady, &;c., &;c." 

Following the word ^^ except j''^ there is every opportunity 
afforded the (honest) vendor of stating what he may know 
invalidating the warranty, and thereby saving his reputa- 
tion, as well as of screening himself from the probability of 
litigation afterwards. 

We shall now quote the opinion of Mr. Youatt as to war- 
ranty. Ho says: "A receipt, including merely the word 
tvarranted, extends only to soundness, tvarranted sound, 
and goes no further; the age, freedom from vice, and 
quietness to ride or drive, should be especially/ named." 

This warranty (as given above,) comprises every cause of 



ON WAEEANTY. 35 

unsoundness that can be detected, or that lurks in the con- 
stitution at the time of sale, and to every vicious habit that 
the animal has hitherto shown. To establish a breach of 
warranty, and to be enabled to tender a return of the horse, 
and recover the difference of price, the purchaser must 
prove that it was unsound, or viciously disposed, at the 
time of sale. In case of cough, the horse must have been 
heard to cough immediately after the purchase, or as he 
was led home, or as soon as he had entered the stable of 
the purchaser. Coughing, even on the following morning, 
will not be sufficient; for it is possible that he might have 
caught cold by the change of stabling. If he is lame, it 
must be proved to arise from a cause that existed before 
the animal was in the purchaser's possession. No price will 
imply a w^arranty, or be equivalent to one ; there must be 
express warranty. A fraud must be proved in the seller, in 
order that the buyer may be enabled to return the horse, 
or mantaiu an action as to the price. The warranty should 
be given at the time of sale. A warranty, or a promise to 
warrant the horse given at any period antecedent to the 
sale, is invalid; for horse-flesh is a very perishable commod- 
ity, and the constitution and usefulness of the animal may 
undergo a considerable change in the space of a few days. 
A warranty after the sale is invalid^ for it is given without 
any legal consideration. In order to complete the purchase, 
there must be a transfer of the animal, or a memorandum 
of agreement, or the payment of the earnest money. The 
least sum will suffice for earnest (say one dollar). No 
verbal promise to buy or to sell is binding without one of 
these. The moment either of these is effected, the legal 
transfer of property or delivery is made, and whatever may 
happen to the horse, the seller retains or is entitled to the 
money. If the purchaser exercises any act of ownership, 



36 ON WARRANTY. 

by using the animal without leave of the vendor, or by hav- 
ing any operation performed or any medicine given to him, 
he malies him his own. 

The warranty of a servant is considered to be binding on 
the master. The weight of authority decides that the 
master is bound by the act of the servant. Lord Kenyon, 
however, had some doubt on the subject. 

If the horse should be afterwards discovered to have been 
unsound at the time of warranty, the buyer may tender a 
return of it, and, if it be not talien bacli, may bring an ac- 
tion for the price ; but the seller is not bound to rescind tho 
contract, unless he has agreed so to do. 

Although there is no legal compulsion to give immediate 
notice to the seller of the discovered unsoundness, it will be 
better for it to be done. The animal should then be ten- 
dered at the house or stable of the vendor. If he refuses to 
receive him, the animal may be sent to a livery stable and 
sold; and an action for the difiference in price may be 
brought. The keep, however, can be recovered only for 
the time that necessarily intervened between the tender 
and the determination of the action. It is not legally ne- 
cessary to tender a return of the horse as soon as the un- 
soundness is discovered. The animal may be kept for a 
reasonable time afterwards, and even pkoper medical 
MEAKS* used to remove the unsoundness; but courtesy, 
and, indeed, justice, will require that the notice should be 
given as soon as possible. Although it is stated, on the 
authority of Lord Loughborough, that ^^no length of time 
elapsed after the sale ivill alter the nature of a contract 
originally false, ''^ yet it seems to have been once thought it 

* "Proper medical means," in this passage, as ^\'ell as in law, is to be con- 
stnied to mean that a Veterinary Surgeon, graduate of some College, must bo 
called in to prescribe, and not one of the quacks in the city.— (Eu.) 



ON WARE AN TY. 37 

was necessary to the action to give notice of tbe unsound- 
ness in a reasonable time. The cause of action is certainly 
complete on breach of the warranty. 

It used to be supi30sed that the buyer had no right to 
have the horse medically treated, and that he would waive 
the warranty by doing so. The question, however, would 
be, has he injured or diminished the value of the horse by 
the treatment ? It will generally be prudent for him to 
refrain from all medical treatment, because the means 
adopted, however skiUfully employed, may have an unfor- 
tunate effect, or may be misrepresented by ignorant or in- 
terested observers. 

The purchaser, possibly, may like the horse, notwith- 
standing his discovered defect ; and ho may retain, and 
bring an action for the depreciation in value on account of 
the unsoundness. Few, however, will do this, because his 
retaining the horse will cause a suspicion that the defect 
was of no great consequence, and will give rise to much 
cavil about the amount of damages : and, after all, very 
slight damages will pi'obably be obtained. 

'^ I take it to be clear law," says Lord Eldon, ^' that if a 
person purchases a horse that is warranted, and it after- 
wards turns out that the horse was unsound at the time of 
warranty, the buyer may, if he pleases, keep the horse, 
and bring an action on the warranty, in which he will 
have the right to recover the difference between the value 
of a sound horse, and one with such defects as existed at 
the time of warranty ; or he may return the horse, and bring 
an action to recover the full money ; but in the latter case, 
the seller has a right to expect that the horse shall be re- 
turned to him in the same state he was when sold, and not 
by any means diminished in value ; for if a person keep 
a warranted article for any length of time after discovering 



38 ON WARRANTY. 

its defects, and then returns it in a worse state than it 
would have been if returned immediately after such dis- 
covery, I think the party can have no defense to an ac- 
tion for the price of the article on the ground of non-com- 
pliance with the warranty, but must be left to his action 
ou the warranty to recover the difference in the value of 
the article warranted, and its value when sold," — Curtis 
vs. Hannay, 3 Esp., 83. 

When there is no warranty, an action may be brought 
on the ground of fraud, but this is very difficult to be 
maintained, and not often hazarded. It will be necessary 
to prove that the dealer knew of the defect, and that 
the purchaser was imposed upon by his false representa- 
tions, or other fraudulent means. If the defect was evident 
to every eye, the purchaser has no remedy — he should have 
taken more care ; but if a warranty was given that extends 
to all unsoundness, palpable or concealed, although a per- 
son should ignorantly or carelessly buy a blind horse, 
warranted sound, he may reject it — the warranty is his 
guard, and prevents him from so closely examining the 
horse as he otherwise would have done; but if he buys a 
blind horse, thinking him to be sound, and without a war- 
ranty, he has no remedy. Every one ought to exercise 
common circumspection and common sense. 

A man should have a more perfect knowledge of horses 
than falls to the lot of most, and a perfect knowledge of 
the vendor too, who ventures to buy a horse without a 
warranty. 

If a person buys a horse warranted sound, and discover- 
ing no defect in him, and relying on the warranty, resells 
bim, and the unsoundness is discovered by the second 
purchaser, and the horse returned to the first purchaser, 
or an action commenced against him, he has his claim on 



ON WARRANTY. 39 

the first seller, and may demand of him not only the price 
of the horse, or the difference in value, but every expense 
that may have been incurred. 

Absolute exchanges of one horse for another, or a sum 
of money being paid in addition by one of the parties, 
stand on the same ground as simple sales. If there is a 
warranty on either side, and that is broken, an action 
may be maintained; if there be no warranty, deceit must 
be proved. 

The trial of horses on sale often leads to disputes. The 
law is perfectly clear, but the application of it, as in other 
matters connected with horse-flesh, is attended with glori- 
ous uncei'tainty. The intended purchaser is only hable 
for damages done to the horse through his own miscon- 
duct. The seller may put what restriction he chooses on 
the trial, and takes the risks of all accidents in the fair 
use of the horse within such restrictions. 

If a horse from a dealer's stable is galloped far and fast, 
it is probable that he will soon show distress ; and if he is 
pushed further, inflammation and death may ensue. The 
dealer rarely gets recompensed for this, nor ought he, as 
he knows the unfitness of his horse, and may thank himself 
for permitting such a trial ; and if it should occur soon 
after the sale, he runs the risk of having the horse return- 
ed, or of an action for its price. 

In this, too, he is not much to be pitied. The mis- 
chievous and fraudulent practice of dealers, of giving their 
horses, by over-feeding, a false appearance of muscular 
substance, leads to the ruin of many a valuable animal. It 
would be a useful lesson to have to contest in an action or 
two, the question, whether a horse overloaded with fat can 
be otherwise than in a state of disease, and consequently 
unsound. 



40 ON WABBANTY. 

It is proper, however, to put a limit to what has been too 
frequently asserted from the bench, that a horse warranted 
sound must be taken as fit for immediate use, and capable 
of being immediately put to any fair work. A hunter hon- 
estly warranted sound is certainly warranted to be in 
immediate condition to follow the hounds. 

One of the regulations of the Bazaar, in King Street, 
London, was exceedingly fair, both with regard to the pre- 
vious owner and the purchaser, viz. : 

^* When a horse, having been warranted sound, shall be 
returned within the prescribed period, on account of un- 
soundness, a certificate from a veterinary surgeon (not one 
who gave himself that title, but a graduate of some college), 
particularly describing the unsoundness, must accompany 
the horse so returned ; when, if it be agreed to by the 
veterinary surgeon of the establishment, the amount re- 
ceived for the horse shall be immediately paid back ; but 
if the surgeon of the establishment should not confirm the 
certificate, then, in order to avoid further dispute, one of 
the veterinary surgeons of the college (Royal Veterinary 
College) shall be called in, and Ms decision shall be final ; 
and the expense of such umpire shall be borne by the party 
in error." 

In " Hippopathology," we find that on warranty certain 
remarks and opinions are given, which we shall place be- 
fore the reader. 

'' Warranty is meant an indemnity against any unsound- 
ness, or a pledge given, commonly in writing, by the vendor 
to the purchaser, that the horse is sound and quiet, and 
possesses such and such qualifications ; without such in- 
demnification or pledge, the law says, Caveat emptor— let 
the purchaser take the consequences ; the rule at law be- 
ing that everybody who purchases a horse takes him at 



ON WARRANTY. 41 

his own judgment, and has do remedy against the seller, 
supposing the horse to turn out, upon a future trial, or on a 
more considerate inspection after the purchase, to be worth 
less than the sum given; unless he (the purchaser) can 
prove he was induced to purchase by representations false 
within the knowledge of the seller. To fasten a fraud of 
this nature upon an experienced dealer in horses is, how- 
ever, a difiQcult matter." (See " Tomlin^s Fopiilar Law Die- 
tionaryfor 1838.") 

Warranties are of different kinds ; express or implied^ 
general or special. An express warranty speaks for itself. 
And as for an implied warranty, such a thing is hardly 
known, or, at least, rarely taken advantage of in horse 
dealing ; the price paid, however high, not being legally 
held to be any guaranty of the soundness of the animal ; 
and anything that might transpire between seller and buy- 
er, implying warranty, being worth nothing without proof, 
which, being procured, would render the transaction, in 
law, tantamount to an express warranty. A general war- 
ranty extends to all defects and faults known and unknown 
to the seller ; hut a special warranty is confined in its oper- 
ation to the parts or particulars specially and specifically 
pointed out. A horse may be warranted of such an ago ; 
or, having some defect visible upon his limbs, such as a 
spavin, or a curb, or a fired leg, of which he does not go 
lame at the time, that defect may be specified, and the 
horse warranted not (within any reasonable or prescribed 
period) to become lame in consequence of it. A general 
warranty, however, affords no protection against such de- 
fects as are plain and obvious to everybody, and conse- 
quently to the purchaser, no more than a special warranty 
does against any which are not included or named in the 
specification. But if, on the sale of a horse, the seller 



42 ON WARRANTY. 

agrees to deliver it sound and free from blemish at the ex- 
piration of a specified period, the warranty is broken by a 
fault in the horse when delivered, although such defect was 
obvious at the time of sale ; and, as some splints cause 
lameness, and others do not, a splint is not one of those 
plain defects against which a warranty will not indemnify ; 
and when a seller warrants a horse sound at the time of 
sale, and the horse afterwards becomes lame from the ef- 
fects of a splint, visible when the horse was bought, it is 
certain that the warranty is broken. This rule will apply 
to spavin, or to curb, or to ivindgall, or, in fact, to any 
other defect visible at the time of sale; for all warranties 
can only undertake for the animal's qualifications at the 
time of sale; none can extend to any subsequent period 
unless there be a special clause to deliver the horse free 
from blemish, and that delivery bo by mutual agreement 
delayed. (See Tomlin''s Law Dictionary for 1838.) 

With respect to what (oral) declarations of the seller will 
amount to a warranty, the primary rule for the interpreta- 
tion of contracts in general is applicable — it depends upon 
the intention of the parties. A simple afiSrmation of the 
goodness of an article is a warranty, provided it (a war- 
ranty) appears to have been intended : whereas the sub- 
limest epithets that seller ever employed to recommend 
his goods to a credulous buyer, will be regarded as the 
idle* phraseology of the market, unless an intention to 
warrant actually appear. 

Let us now consider how the rights of the parties are 
affected by the horse being unsound at the time of warran- 
ty. The contract being thus broken on the part of the 
seller, it is at the buyer's option either to treat it as a 

* As generally made nse of in Anierica, wb en' speaking of their articles — 
" the best in the world "— " i\iQ finest animal in America." 



ON WARRANTY, 43 

nullity, and return the horse, or to retain him notwithstand- 
ing, and bring an action on the warranty. In the former 
case, the price paid is the measure of the damages he will 
be entitled to recover in an action ; in the latter, the dif- 
ference between that price and his real value. If he offer 
to rescind the contract and return the horse, ho may also 
recover the expenses of his keep ; but in order to do this, 
a positive tender is said to be necessary. No notice of the 
unsoundness need be given to the vendor, to entitle the 
vendee to maintain the action ; nor is it necessary to bring 
the action immediately on discovering the unsoundness. 
But although such a notice be not essential, yet it is always 
advisable to give it, as the omitting to do so will furnish at 
the trial a strong presumption that the horse, at the time 
of sale, was free from the defect comxjlained of, thus ren- 
dering the proof of warranty more difficult. Common jus- 
tice and honesty require that the commodity should be re- 
turned at the earliest period, and before it has been so 
changed by the lapse of time as to make it impossible to 
ascertain, by proper tests, what were its original proper- 
ties. 

I cannot conclude this subject without advising those 
who arc satisfied with a moderate degree of goodness in a 
horse to put up with a few trifling faults, as it often hap- 
pens that the rider or driver is as much in fault as the 
horse ; and after a little use these trivial faults often dis- 
appear. 

There is no money better expended when purchasing a 
horse, than the payment of the fee to a qualified, respecta- 
ble veterinary surgeon, one whose i)rofessional knowledge 
enables him to form, and whose reputation induces him to 
give, a correct and honest opinion as to the soundness of a 
horse; through saving this trifling sum hundreds of dollars 



44 ON WAERANTY. 

have often been subsequently lost. The certificate of a vet- 
erinary surgeon, as to the soundness of a horse, does not 
prevent such horse from being returned, should he after- 
wards manifest such symptoms as would prove him to be 
unsound at the time of sale. • Cases may occur in which dis- 
ease may exist in a latent form, and which professional 
vigilance may be unable to detect. But to one case of this 
sort there are hundreds in which the unsoundness would 
have been detected by the veterinary surgeon, though not 
by the owner or amateur. 

There are two grounds on which a horse can be return- 
ed and the value recovered: one, a breach of warranty; 
the other, the proving a fraud. If a horse is warranted 
sound, free from vice, steady in harness, and live years 
old, and ho proves either unsound, vicious, unsteady in 
harness, or more or less than five years, the warranty is 
broken, and the horse returnable. It is of little use tho 
dealer saying that ho tvill warrant the horse, unless ho 
actually does, and any professions that he may make 
amount to nothing ; thus, though he were to say, "■ tho 
horse was tho soundest animal ever foaled," or, '^ the gen- 
tlest creature that ever looked through a collar," or, the 
usual term, ^' the finest in the world," it amounts to noth- 
ing, unless ho warrants the one cr tho other of his asser- 
tions. A warranty before a witness is better than a 
written warranty without a witness. 

A warranty docs not extend to any limited time unless 
specified accordingly, as at somo of the auction marts. In 
former days it used to be the law to allow a trial of so many 
weeks for the eyes, and so many for the wind, &c., but 
such is not the case at present. 

The other ground on which a horse can bo returned — 
that of fraud — is more difficult to prove. If a person sells 



ON WAERANTY. 45 

another a glandered horse at such a price as the animal 
would have beeu worth if sound, it is an act of fraud, and 
the buyer can recover the amount, as well as the damage, 
should the infection have beeu communicated to other 
horses belonging to him; provided, it can be proved that 
the seller knew that the horse was glandered at the time of 
sale (no matter if he was not warranted), it is absolutely a 
case of fraud. If any gross deception be practiced to hide 
a fault, the horse is returnable on the ground of fraud, 
though no warranty bo given. It is necessary, however, 
that the fault afterward discovered should not be of such 
glaring description that any man of common judgment 
would have readily discovered, such as a large blemish on 
the knee, or the absence of an eye ; for the law expects the 
purchaser to exercise common vigilance. In cases where 
there exists some temporary unsoundness, it is desirable to 
have such defect mentioned in the warranty— the horse to 
be returnable, or a fair allowance made, if the unsoundness 
becomes permanent. 

In cases where there is an unsoundness, but one to which 
the purchaser does not object, it is desirable that a qual- 
ified warranty should bo given— that is, sound in every 
other respect but this one exception. 

In obtaining a warranty, let it be written and signed by 
the seller himself if possible; for, if you should have reason 
to commence a suit to recover damages from the horse 
proving unsound, he might swear that he did not read it 
when he signed it, nor did he instruct his clerk to give the 
warranty as it is written, &c.; not that such a statement 
of the seller is worth much, but as these cases are generally 
decided by the jury system, which does not generally de- 
cide cases by the weight of evidence, this plan will be 
found very useful should any defect afterward appear 



46 * ON WAIIEANTY. 

which may render it necessary to return the horse. It is 
thought necessary by many persons, when a horse is re- 
turned, to put him into the stable of the seller, or to get him 
to receive the horse ; but it has been established in our 
courts of law that this is not necessary, and that it is suf- 
ficient to give notice by a witness that the horse is unsound 
or vicious, or is not what he was warranted to be, and that 
ho is ready to be delivered up when sent for ; although, 
by tendering the horse, and afterwards placing him at liv- 
ery, the keep of an unsound horse after this tender can be 
recovered ; this is, therefore, the best plan to adopt when 
the seller is a solvent and responsible man. If the horse is 
sold to a third party, an action can be brought, after due 
notice given to the vendor, for the difference between the 
price given and the price the horse sold for, after deduct- 
ing all expenses that were actually necessary in the keep 
of the animal, and at the sale; the best and most advis- 
able plan is to sell the horse at a mart, or otherwise, by 
auction, due notice having been given to the seller. 

It is advisable, after purchasing, not to have the horse 
shod, nor to give him any medicine, until satisfied, by a 
sufficient trial, that he is in every respect sound. 

Perhaps I have dwelt longer upon this subject than 
some of my readers may think necessary ; but it should be 
recollected that it is intended only for those who are inex- 
perienced in horses. It may be thought, also, that what I 
have written may tend to excite an unjust prejudice in the 
minds of those to whom it is addressed, or that it may 
make them over-cautious, and induce them to reject horses 
without sufficient reason ; but if we take into considera- 
tion the many defects or diseases to which horses are 
liable, the difficulty of detecting them, the numerous de- 
ceptions that are practiced, and the shifts and evasions 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 47 

sometimes resorted to, I trust that, in what I have written, 
the candid reader will not accuse me of having gone too 
far, or that it will excite an undue prejudice against the 
horse-dealer. I am aware that there are men in that trade 
who would descend to the deceptive practices that I treat 
on in another part of this book, but have no doubt that 
there are also to be found among them, men of strict in- 
tegrity and honor. 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

In this division of the subject we propose to treat of 
the precautions to be observed in purchasing horses, and 
to explain the various devices practiced by unprincipled 
dealers to deceive the inexperienced and unwary. The 
information and advice here introduced is mainly gathered 
from the experiences of Messrs. Armatage, Mason, Spooner, 
Gamgee, Youatt, and Blain — who are high authority on all 
matters pertaining to horse-flesh— together with the results 
of our own observations and practice. 

It is a very ancient but valuable maxim, that in all 
transactions, *' honesty is the 'best policy,''^ and I can see no 
reason whatever why horse-dealing should not be regu- 
lated by this excellent law. 

I have known some persons who have persisted in the 
practice of never giving a warranty with a horse, and have 
experienced the advantage of it ; for it is evident that few 
who have had any use for a horse would sell it unless it 
had some fault ; and if we go to a horse-dealer to purchase 
a horse of five or six years of age, it is but reasonable to 
conclude that the horse may have been tried by some 
other person, and sold for some fault ; still, it should be 



48 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

recollected that there are few, if any horses, without some 
fault or imperfectiou ; aud perhaps, if the qualifications of 
riders or drivers (eveu the best) were strictlj inquired into, 
they would be found equally deficient; we had better, 
therefore, go upou the principle of getting a horse that has 
no SERIOUS fault or defect, or what may be fairly deem- 
ed unsoundness ; and having purchased such a horse, we 
should ride or drive him a few days or weeks, and not 
be too hasty in giving an opinion of him, nor too ready in 
listening to the opinions or criticisms of others, as there 
will always be found many ready to give their voluntary 
opinion, no matter how ignorant they mny be as regards 
their judgment of a horse ; and, as I remarked before in 
another chapter, the more ignorant the person is, the more 
capable he thinks himself; I have always found this fact 
established, more particularly as to horses. Having pre- 
mised thus much, I will proceed to give some further ad- 
vice, or suggest some precautions, which maybe profitably 
recollected by the purchaser of horses. 

The numerous shades which exist between a state of 
perfect soundness in horses, and those obvious diseases 
or defects which so clearly constitute unsoundness as to 
admit of no doubt on the subject, often occasion much 
trouble and perplexity in the purchase or sale of these 
animals. 

If a person, inexperienced in the mysteries of horse- 
dealing, wishes to purchase a horse, he would do well to 
consult a professional man (not the quacks that generally 
overrun every city), or^ in preference to the latter, some 
friend, even if he does not know very much of the horse, 
but of whose honesty you are satisfied ; but, at any rate, 
consult some honest person, capable of guarding you 
against any deception that might be attempted, and of 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 49 

pointing out any defects that may be of too obscure a na- 
ture to attract your notice. When such assistance cannot 
be procured, the following hints will be found undoubtedly 
useful. 

It would be useless to attempt a minute examination of 
a horse while the dealer or his assistant are present ; the 
sloping ground upon which the horse stands for examina- 
tion gives a deceptive view of his form and height, while 
the constant fear he feels of the whip, and the high-flown 
panegyrics lavished upon him, are so perplexing to a per- 
son unaccustomed to the business, that he is apt to over- 
look the most palpable defects; nor is it possible for the 
most experienced to examine him with all the accuracy 
and attention that are necessary, as an unobserved flourish 
of the whip, or some other private hint from the seller, or 
some of his assistants, may keep the horse constantly in 
motion, particularly when the eye happens to be directed 
to a part that he does not wish to be inspected. I do not' 
mean to say that this is always the case ; there are many 
dealers, no doubt, of strict integrity, who afi'ord ample 
opportunity to those who wish to examine their horses, 
and so far from wishing to practice any deception upon 
the inexperienced, will never warrant a horse sound unless 
they are convinced that he is really so ; but that there are 
men in the business who have recourse to a variety of 
tricks to deceive the unwary, is too notorious to be doubt- 
ed. It is advisable, therefore, after taking a general view 
of the animal, so as to be satisfied with respect to his 
figure and action, to ride him off" to some convenient place, 
where he may be examined without interruption. 

In a book published a few years ago on this subject, by 
Mr. R. Lawrence, he observes that 'Hhere are two kinds 
of horse-dealers — the common, and the gentleman dealer ; 



50 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

and that there is this distinction between them : the former 
is obliged to warrant a horse sound before he can sell him, 
whereas the latter simply says that he believes the horse 
to be sound, and that it is not customary with him to give 
a warranty. Thus, the first is bound by laiv ; the latter 
by honor ; neyertheless there are some eccentric and nar- 
row-minded purchasers, who, in spite of the numerous 
bright examples of modern honor, prefer the former mode 
of dealing to the latter. 

The first and most important point to be inquired into, 
is the state of the feet and limbs, and whether the horse be 
in any degree lame or not. And though it appear perfect- 
ly firm, and free from lameness in all its paces, it will be 
necessary to inspect carefally the feet and limbs, lest there 
be any defect, which, at some future time, may occasion 
lameness. It is a fact, pretty well known to horse-dealers, 
that a slight degree of lameness is easily concealed, par- 
ticularly in high-spirited horses, by the use of a stimulus, 
(whip or spur, etc.), and supporting the head with the 
bridle, so as to keep it high. To ascertain, therefore, 
whether a horse be lame or not, he should not be ridden, 
but a person should be made to run before him, holding 
the end of the bridle, so that the head may receive no 
support from it ; the slightest lameness will then be readi- 
ly perceived, particularly if the trial be made on rough 
ground, and on a moderate declivity. 

Should it appear that the horse is perfectly free from 
lameness, the feet and legs are to be carefully inspected, 
beginning with the former, which should be first viewed in 
front, as the horse stands, to observe if there be any dif- 
ference in the form or size of the hoofs. If the feet are very 
small, and particularly if one foot appears smaller than the 
other, it affords reasonable cause for suspicion that there is 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 51 

some defect ; the bottom of the foot is then to be examined, 
and if the heels are much contracted, the frog imperfect, 
and matter issuing from its cleft or division, it is probable 
that the horse will soon become lame. I would not advise 
that a horse be rejected merely because the feet have be- 
come rather narrow at the heels, or a little smaller than 
they were originally, unless elngs or grooves are found 
around the foot near to the coronet ; in such a case, you 
might suspect that the horse has been attacked with in- 
flammation of the foot, and the disease might return on one 
or two days' hard work. 

If no difference can be perceived in the size of the feet, 
if the frogs appear sound and free from thrushes, and par- 
ticularly if, at the same time, the horse step boldly and 
firmly when trotted on rough ground, and down a hill, I 
think he may be safely purchased, if free from all other de- 
fects. 

The next point to be attended to is the form of the sole 
or bottom of the foot, which is, in its natural state, rather 
hollow or concave : we sometimes, however, find it quite 
flat, or even convex; in either case it is j^roportionally thin, 
and unfit for the oflSce it seems to be designed for, that is, 
to protect the sensible or fleshy sole which it covers. The 
flat sole, however, is by no means so serious a defect as the 
convex, and, if the horse is carefully shod, seldom occasions 
lameness ; but when the sole is in any degree convex, or 
projecting, it is extremely thin, and incapable of bearing 
much pressure. A horse with this defect will sometimes 
step firmly, when the sole is protected by a wide, hollow 
shoe ; but he is continually liable to become lame by gravel 
under the sole. We generally find, on this kind of foot, 
that the front of the hoof, or wall, has lost its natural form, 
having become flatter; it is thinner and more brittle than 



52 ADVICE TO BUYERS 

it is naturally, so tbat it is difficult to nail a shoo on se- 
curely without wounding or pricking the foot, as it is termed. 
This defect, therefore, is of a serious nature, and constitutes 
a class of unsoundness. In examining the fore-feet, we 
should attentively observe whether there are any corns. 
We can sometimes discover this without taking off the shoes, 
but by no means so well as when they are removed. If the 
corns are slight, they do not form a sufiBcient objection to 
an otherwise good horse ; but if they are extensive, and 
particularly if the heels are likewise weak, the horse should 
be rejected. 

Sand-crack is an important defect, when it runs longitu- 
dinally from the coronet into the hoof, and is so deep as to 
affect the sensible parts of the foot ; sometimes, however, it 
is very superficial, or in a horizontal direction, and perhaps 
too trifling to deserve notice. It should be recollected, 
however, that these trifling cracks in the hoof indicate an 
unnatural dryness of the horn, and, consequently a tenden- 
cy to sand-crack ; therefore, when such a horse is pur- 
chased, proper means should be employed to improve the 
state of the hoof. 

There is no part of the horse which requires a more care- 
ful inspection than the foot ; for it sometimes happens that 
lameness is for a time removed by rest, or a run at grass, 
and may not again appear until the horse is put to work. 
Horses that are foundered, are generally much relieved, 
and sometimes apparently cured, by running at grass; but 
the lameness invariably returns when the horse is worked, 
or kept in a stable floored with planks, or bricked. 

A horse's foot may have suffered so far by bad shoeing, 
improper management, or some unknown cause, that al- 
though lameness may not have taken place at the time of 
purchase, yet, from the appearance of the foot, it may 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 53 

reasonably be suspected that be will soon become lame. 
Should such a horse be purchased with a warranty of sound- 
ness, he could not perhaps be legally returned, if lameness 
take place two or three weeks afterwards, as the seller 
would be able to prove that the horse had not been lame 
up to the time he was purchased. It may be said, per- 
haps, that the defect in the foot was observed at that time, 
but it is well known that we rarely meet with a horse, at 
the age of seven or eight, whose feet are not more or less 
imperfect, caused principally from bad shoeing, and that a 
considerable alteration in form sometimes takes place with- 
out causing lameness. Another point, special attention 
should be called to. After purchasing your horse with a 
good and sound foot, try and avoid all fancij shoers, who 
think that cutting out the sole, paring away the frog, plac- 
ing on nice-looking small shoes, and finally using the rasp 
to finish their disgraceful jobs, is perfection. Let the sole 
alone, except when absolutely required. Do not touch the 
frog, and do not allow the rasp to be too freely used. All that 
is required is simply to take off the roughness of the old 
shoeing, and for the purpose of clinching the nails, and to 
go no higher than the clinch. 

Cutting is a defect often met with ; and when it is con- 
siderable—that is, when the scar on the inside of the fetlock 
is large, the parts surrmmding thickened, and if it appears 
also to have been recently wounded— it must be deemed a 
serious imperfection. Guesting on the inside and immediate- 
ly below the knee joint (speedy cut, as it is termed), is also 
a material defect, as it sometimes causes a horse to fall sud- 
denly, or he may become so lame as to be almost useless. 

The back sinews are next to be examined, by passing the 
hand down the back part of the \eQ. If the tendon or 
sinew can be distinctly felt, with the suspensory ligament 



54 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

which lies immediately before it, if the tendon feel clean 
and free from swelling, and if the leg, on a side view, ap- 
pear flat, clean and sinewy, as it is termed, it may be con- 
sidered as a sound, well-formed leg. But if the leg, on a 
side view, appears rather round than flat, or rather bent 
and inclined inwards, if the sinew and ligament cannot be 
distinctly felt, and particularly if one leg is larger than the 
other, it may be concluded that the part has sustained 
some injury, and that there is a probability of the horse 
becoming lame when put to any hard work. If any mark 
be found on the knees, it is the safest plan to infer that it 
was occasioned by falling, through some weakness of the 
joint, though the seller should aflirm that it happened in 
going over a bar, stepping on or off the boat, or by striking 
it against the manger. 

Few horses are entirely free from splints — they need not, 
therefore, be regarded, unless of a large size immediately 
below the knee, or so near the back sinew or suspensory 
ligament as to interfere with their action, or unless they 
are tender on being pressed. 

In examining the hind-legs, begin with the hock, and if 
there be any spavin it may be seen most readily by look- 
ing between the hocks, or, still better, by looking between 
the fore-legs, rather inclining to one side. The bones, 
which form the projection on the inside of the hock, are in 
some horses rather larger than in others ; this should not 
be mistaken for bone-spavin, but4here is no great diCScul- 
ty in making the distinction, for, should both hocks be 
affected with spavin, it rarely happens that they are ex- 
actly alike, or of the same size ; and when one hock only 
is affected, the difference is sufficiently manifest to point 
out the disease. A side view of the hocks should next be 
taken, and if there be a curb it will be readily perceived. 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 55 

Observe, in the uext place, if there be any ringbone on the 
pastern, which, though a considerable delect, does not 
always produce lameness, but more frequently in the fore- 
leg than the hind. 

In examining the bottom of the hind -foot, we have 
to ascertain that it is not affected with canker, bad 
thrushes, and the other defects treated on in regard to the 
fore -feet. 

Some horses have a tendency to swelhng of the hind- 
legs, or to that discharge from the heels which constitutes 
the disease termed ''scratches;" and horses with white 
legs seem to be more disposed to this complaint than 
others. When a horse's hind-legs, therefore, appear to be 
swollen, if the hair about the heels appear rough or furzy, 
or if there be scars on the heels, or an appearance of their 
having been affected with cracks or ulcers, it may be in- 
ferred that the horse is subject to scratches and swelling 
of the legs ; do not omit to observe if there be any puffs 
on the inner part of the hock, a little to the front ; if so, 
and they are tender to the touch, and evince pain to the 
animal, or any heat can be felt in them, it would be better 
not to run the risk of taking an animal that might be very 
lame on one or two days' hard work, and when these puffs 
(also known as bog-spavin) cause lameness, although it 
is in but few cases that they do so, they generally are very 
troublesome and difficult to treat. 

Having finished our examination of the feet and limbs, 
we should proceed to the eye, which is an important part, 
and requires the most careful inspection. The most favor- 
able situation for viewing the eye is at the stable door, or 
under a shed; for when too much hght falls upon the eye, 
so much is reflected by its cornea, or surface, that it is 
difficult to see the external part. I am not treating of a 



56 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

blind horse, for any person must be blind themselves not to 
detect a blind horse, but it is on signs and indications, 
that will cause you to suspect that the animal will go bhnd 
after being a little while in your possession. 

The age at which the eyes most frequently become dis- 
eased is from five to six ; next to that, from four to five ; 
sometimes, but not often, it happens after six; after seven 
the disease rarely occurs, except from accidents, to which, 
of course, they are equally exposed at all ages. In pur- 
chasing a horse, therefore, about five years old, it is neces- 
sary to be particularly attentive to the state of the eyes. 
If they appear dull, cloudy, or watery, if the hds appear 
to be more closed than usual, if the inner corner of the 
eyelid appears puckered up, and particularly if there is a 
manifest difference in the appearance of the eyes, they 
may justly be suspected to be unsound. 

Having taken a general view of the eye, the pupil, or 
dark bluelsh oblong spot in its centre, should be closely 
and carefully examined ; and if a dififereuce is perceived in 
the size of the two pupils — if, instead of a dark blue color, 
they appear cloudy, or if white specks are seen in them — a 
diseased state of the organs is indicated. Mr. Armatage 
says, '^I have observed in many instances, that when a 
small speck has formed in the pupil, it does not gradually 
increase, as by many it is supposed to do ; on the contrary, 
I have, in many cases, known it remain in the same state 
for years without causing any material impediment to vis- 
ion." I should not, therefore, reject a horse simply on ac- 
count of this defect ; that is, if the eyes appeared perfectly 
healthy in every other respect, and particularly if the speck 
is small, nearer the edge than the centre of the pupil, and 
only in one eye ; it would be advisable, however, that the 
fact be understood that the pupils become small when tho 



ADVICE TO BUYEBS. 57 

eyes are exposed to a strong light, and enlarge again when 
the horse is brought into a darker situation ; so that if the 
light is allowed to fall more strongly on one eye than on the 
other, the former will appear smaller. 

When an imperfection is observed in the eye, it is fre- 
quently said to arise from a bite, or blow, or from hay seeds 
falling into it; but, though the seller should positively 
affirm this to be the cause of the imperfection, I should 
always be inchned to doubt it, because experience has 
taught me that the diseases of the horse's eye almost al- 
ways arise from internal causes ; that, however trifling in 
appearance, they are really of a serious nature, and most 
commonly, even after they have been apparently cured, 
terminate, sooner or later, in blindness. Too much caution, 
therefore, cannot be observed in examining this important 
part. There is a disease, to which the eye is subject, 
termed '^gutta serena," or glass eye, which, although the 
horse be totally blind in either one or both eyes, it is dif- 
ficult to be noticed by an inexperienced person, as there are 
no specks nor any dullness about the eye; in fact, just the 
contrary ; but, on close examination, if one eye bo affected, 
you will find the lids somewhat more apart than the other 
eye, and there will be more of a sort of staring appearance 
about it, and the eye itself will have a more glossy aspect 
than natural ; but if both eyes are diseased, you will find 
greater difficulty in detecting it, as both eyes will then be 
alike in size and appearance ; but you must in this case 
take notice of the size of the pupil while in the dark, and 
bring the horse towards the light, and if you see no differ- 
ence in the size of the pupil, the horse is blind, as the pupil 
should become smaller when exposed to the light, and, be- 
sides, the horse will raise his feet a little higher than or- 
dinary. 



58 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

When the eyes become inflamed from a blow or bite, or 
from any dust getting into them, the disease, althougli ap- 
parently considerable, is seldom of long continuance ; that 
is, when the injury is not severe and proper means are 
employed for its removal. But when the inflammation has 
subsided, there often remains on the surface of the eye an 
opaque spot, or film, which in severe injuries extends over 
the whole of the cornea or surface of the eye. After a little 
time, this opacity gradually diminishes, and sometimes 
wholly disappears; more commonly, however, a small film 
remains, which does not in any material degree impede 
vision. This defect, therefore, is of no importance, and 
may safely be overlooked, provided the purchaser is certain 
that the opacity is really on the surface, and not in the 
pupil of the eye, and that the other parts appear bright, 
and free from every kind of imperfection. As a further 
security, a condition may be annexed to the warranty, by 
which the horse may be returned in three or four months, 
should the imperfection prove to be of a serious nature. 
When a complete cataract takes place, which is known by 
the pupil being of a white or pearl color, the strength of the 
other eye is generally restored, and it rarely becomes dis- 
eased afterwards, except from accidents ; he may, there- 
fore, be safely purchased as a one-eyed horse. 

We have now to extend our investigation to another 
point : that is, the state of the wind, or rather of the lungs, 
and of the parts connected with them. 

When a horse is absolutely broken-winded, there is no 
difficulty in detecting the disease ; the laborious breathing, 
or working of the flanks, particularly in going up a hill, 
and the short, asthmatic cough, are symptoms which can- 
not escape observation. Between this state of the lungs 
and perfect health there are many degrees, and it is the 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 59 

intermediate defects tliat we find most difficulty in dis- 
covering. 

The criterion by which dealers judge of the state of a 
horse's wind is by no means a bad one — they make the 
horse cough by pinching or grasping the top of the wind- 
pipe ; if the lungs are in that state which constitutes 
broken-wind, or if they are approaching to that state, the 
sound of the cough is so peculiar that it cannot well be 
mistaken — it is short and husky, exactly like that of an 
asthmatic person. When this kind of cough is observed, 
the horse should be rejected, even if the motion of the 
flanks appear perfectly easy and regular. " I have known," 
says Mr. Spoouer, " in several instances, broken-wind ap- 
parently cured, by keeping a horse at grass ; that is, he 
seemed to breathe with ease, and did not cough when mod- 
erately exercised, but by pinching the throat there was 
that peculiar cough, and by keeping him in the stable a 
few days he became as bad as ever." 

It is advisable, therefore, for those who have occasion to 
purchase horses, to make themselves familiar with the 
sound of this asthmatic or broken-winded cough; there 
will be no difficulty in this, as the complaint is very com- 
mon, and horses are more liable to coughs than other 
domestic animals. The complaint is sometimes of little 
importance, and with care, easily removed ,* it often proves, 
however, extremely obstinate, and not unfrequently in- 
curable. 

When a horse is observed to have a cough at the time 
of purchase, it is necessary to inquire whether it be a re- 
cent complaint, or one of long standing ; and this is a point 
that cannot be always easily determined. 

In the old, or chronic cough, as it is termed, the horse 
generally appears lively, feeds heartily, and appears in 



60 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

every other respect to be in perfect health. Sometimes 
the sound of the cough is husky, or asthmatic, which in- 
dicates a tendency to brolien-wind ; more commonly it is 
loud and clear ; the fit of coughing is generally violent, and 
the horse often appears as if some extraneous body had 
got into the wind-pipe, and he was endeavoring to cough 
it up. 

The chronic cough is most considerable when the horse 
is first put in motion ; by continuing the exercise it grad- 
ually ceases, after which the horse may be ridden a long 
journey without coughing. I have often observed that 
horses with chronic cough are very shy of having their 
throats touched, often rearing and making considerable 
resistance when any one attempts to make them cough by 
grasping the top of the wind-pipe; and 'Mn many in- 
stances," says Mr. Armatage, *' I have observed that they 
cannot be made to cough, in cases of a chronic nature, by 
squeezing the top of the wind-pipe, however strong the 
grasp may be." This, probably, as well as the shyness 
they manifest on the occasion, may arise from the trial 
having been often made upon them. 

In the recent cough the horse generally appears rather 
dull and heavy, and looks like a horse laboring under a 
catarrh or cold ; he readily coughs when the wind-pipe is 
pinched, in doing which there is no difficulty, as the horse 
seldom makes any considerable resistance. 

When the cough is of recent date, the horse is sometimes 
relieved by throwing up mucous through tlie nostrils, and 
the cough is often so much moderated by strict attention 
to his diet and exercise, as to appear scarcely worth notice. 
When a horse, therefore, is observed to have a cough, the 
purchaser may not always be able to determine whether 
the complaint be unimportant, or of long standing and in- 



V 



ADVICE TO BUTEBS. 01 

curable. In such doubtful cases, it would perhaps be the 
most prudent plan to reject the animal, unless you can 
secure a suitable condition to the warranty. 

There is another complaint of the lungs, or parts con- 
nected with them, and an incurable one, which the pur- 
chaser should be guarded against — this disease is named 
roarmg, from the wheezing noise a horse that is thus 
affected makes when ridden fast, particularly when gal- 
loped up a hill J it is sometimes so considerable as to be 
heard at a distance of many yards, but in walking, or 
moderate exercise, it can seldom be perceived. The method 
which is usually adopted to detect this complaint, when 
sufficient time is not allowed to have the horse properly 
examined, is to whip him under the belly, and make him 
turn suddenly, or by making him leap over a bar ; if he is 
a roarer, this sudden exertion causes him to grunt suffi- 
ciently loud and plainly to be easily detected. But this 
criterion should never be depended upon when an oppor- 
tunity offers of either galloping the horse, or having him 
properly tested in the other various ways. 

Another defect to which attention must be called, is re- 
garding injuries. After you have examined the animal in 
the manner already laid down, place the animal on very 
even ground, especially the hind-legs, then stand immedi- 
ately behind the animal, to view the hind-parts; see if 
both sides of the rump are even, that the point of one hip 
is not lower than the other, that the muscles on one side 
are not flatter than on the other side ; if all appear perfect, 
then try if the animal has use of his tail, as it is a common 
occurrence to see fine-looking animals lose, from an injury, 
the use of their tails, and from the want of it in the sum- 
mer months, dwindle away to a mere skeleton. The man- 
ner to detect it is by pricking him under the belly, and if 



62 ADVICE TO BUYERS, 

he has use of it, he will swing it, or you may feel it, and 
easily detect if he has any use of it. Before you complete 
your examination, take a step to the side of the animal, 
and place your hand over the loins, and press steadily; do 
not insert your finger-nails into the horse's flesh, and ex- 
claim, *' He flinches !" but press steadily, and if a horsey 
and he gives or crouches, it is suspicious that he either is 
affected in his kidneys, or that he has received some injury 
that may at a future time render him unfit for work ; if it 
be a mare^ then, before you reject her, her crouching must 
be considerable, and she must evince some degree of pain, 
as most mares will crouch a little on pressure on their kid- 
neys, especially during their season. 

As to age, I shall treat of it in another place, but it is 
always advisable to have the ago of the horse expressed 
on the warranty, as you can then avail yourself of the first 
opportunity that ofibrs of obtaining correct information on 
the subject, and, if you have been deceived, you will have 
the right to return the animal. 

Mr. Spooner says ''that he has known persohs so cau- 
tious, when about to purchase a horse, as to examine the 
neck, and if they find marks of his having been bled often, 
they suspect, sometimes justly, that he has had some se- 
rious complaint. They have also thought it necessary to 
inspect the chest, belly, and thighs, or the parts where 
rowels or sctons are usually placed, and if they observe 
the marks which generally remain after roweling, they 
suspect it was done for a complaint of the eyes, when the 
mark is under the throat, or between the branches of the 
under jaw-bone; and if in other parts, for what they term 
humors, that is, swelling of the legs, or grease." 

Having fininshed our examination of the horse as it re- 
lates to soundness, wo have next to inquire if he has any 



ADVICE TO BVYERS. 63 

Vicious habits, such as crib-biting, wind-suckiug, kicking 
when shoeing, chewing tlae rope of his halter, or shppiug 
his halter, and be guarded against them, by the warranty"^ 
but if the horse appear to suit in every respect, I would not 
advise rejecting him on account of some trivial vice that 
may be rectified by care, such as kicking when shoeing 
chewmg the rope, or slipping his halter; but a crib-biter 
and wind-sucker I. would never recommend any one to pur- 
chase, except at a very reduced figure, and we must fiirtber 
mqmre it he is in any degree restive. Crib-biting and wind- 
suckmg are vicious habits, which often cause a horse to be- 
come lean and weak, and sometimes render him very 
subject to flatulent colic. It is, therefore, a defect of im- 
portance. In crib-biting he lays hold of the manger, post, 
or stump of a tree with his teeth, and appears to be sucking 
with an almost convulsive eflbrt, and a slight gi-unting 
noise. The manner in which this injures a horse has no^ 
been satisfactorily explained, but it is allowed by all to be 
an important defect. Wind-sucking can be easily under- 
stood by the name; the horse will suck in air while stand- 
ing in the centre of his box-stall; he gives a sort of con- 
vulsive twitch with his lips, and you will observe him to 
swallow the air, and extend his head a little to one side ; 
he also can suck in air by laying hold of the manger, &c.; 
but it is not all crib-biters that are also wind-suckers. 
It may be easily detected by watching the horse for a 
short time in his stall undisturbed. 

Restiveness is sometimes discovered by separating a 
horse from his companion after riding together a few miles, 
or after riding him and bringing him back to bis stable, by 
attempting to ride him off again; on these occasions, if a 
horse has any restiveness, he generally exhibits it. 

Before I close this subject, it may be proper to remind 



64 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 

the reader that we rarely meet with a horse that is in every 
respect perfect ; and though, from the high price of the an- 
imal, it is necessary to be very cautious, yet it is possible, 
perhaps, to carry our caution too far ; that is, there may be 
some trifling imperfection, such as a small splint, which is 
not worth noticing. One caution I always think necessary, 
however perfect the horse may appear, and that is, to have 
the receipt and warranty in the handwriting of the seller, 
stating that the horse is warranted sound, and free from 
vice, (fee, &c. 

The next caution, or exposure of the various devices 
practiced by the tricky horse-dealer, I shall now place be- 
fore the reader. 

When a dealer finds that his horse has a bad cough, and 
he expects some greenhorn, as they call those persons who 
are inexperienced in the art of horse-trading, to be there 
the next day to try the horse, he will administer two 
drachms of powdered opium the night before; and, on the 
morning of the day that the purchaser is expected, three 
and sometimes four drachms are given. This medicine acts 
to check the irritation for a day or so, therefore the cough 
is perfectly absent on the day that he is purchased; and 
if, after a day or two, the purchaser finds that he has a 
horse with a very severe cough, he will go to the seller and 
make the statement ; but unless the purchaser can prove 
that medicine was given the horse in order to deceive him, 
he has no redress. 

In many instances a dealer will have a horse with a dis- 
charge from his nostrils, but knows well enough that to 
offer such a horse would be the means of exciting a sus- 
picion that the animal might be getting glanders, or some 
other serious disease ; he will, therefore, administer four 
drachms sulphate of iron three times a day, and keep the 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 65 

nostrils clear, and after four to eight days be will have the 
animal ready for sale, as the discharge will he dried up, 
and the animal somewhat improved under the use of this 
tonic; but how long will the animal's nostrils remain 
clean ? Just as soon as the horse is exposed to the slight- 
est degree of cold it will return with greater severity; and 
if it was the forerunner of some serious disease, will in a 
measure be the means of keeping it off for a little while, 
but, eventually, the animal will fall a martyr to the dis- 
ease. 

Another plan for deceiving the inexperienced is adopted 
when a dealer happens to have for sale a horse a little ten- 
der, or lame, in one leg j he will slightly affect the other 
leg, so that the horse will travel evenly, and not show any 
lameness on the diseased foot ; the manner in which this is 
done is by taking off the shoe from the sound leg, and 
paring a spot on the sole of the foot on which the shoe will 
rest, then replace the shoe, so as to press on the tender 
spot and give the animal a slight pain, sufficient to cause 
the pain of both feet to be equal ; then the animal will not 
be lame at all, but he will travel a little short with both 
feet; and the purchaser will be told that such is the nat- 
ural action of the horse : but in a great many instances the 
horse travels so well that it is not at all noticed, unless 
you have seen the animal walk before he was fixed in that 
manner. 

Many horses, after an attack of rheumatism of the chest, 
founder, &c., are troubled with an ugly hollow chest, sink- 
ing away in ; such a horse is generally very difficult to sell 
at a figure to compensate a dealer; but he resorts to a plan 
to give the horse a fine full chest, which will deceive the 
inexperienced, but is easily detected by a careful examina- 
tion; he will puncture the chest; and with care separate the 



66 ADVICE TO BUTE US. 

skiu from the flesh, then he will insert a hollow tube, and 
blow out the chest as large as he desires; he will then 
withdraw the tube, stitch up the orifice, place a plaster over 
it, and after a few days the place will heal up, leaving the 
chest quite full and prominent, which will remain so until 
the animal is put to work. They have also resorted to 
this plan to equalize the appearance of hocks, or to fill up 
a lop-sided horse where the muscles of one side have 
wasted away. 

They have a plan of giving white or cream-colored 
horses black marks, so that they match w^ell in appearance, 
such as, all black legs, a black star, black mane or tail, or 
certain attractive black spots on the body ; the method of 
doing this is to take six ounces of litharge, quicklime 
twelve ounces, powder them very finely, then mix them 
together, place it into a pan, and pour on it sharp lye, 
then boil it, and you will find a fatty substance tioating on 
the top, which skim off, and use to rub the horse in such 
places as you desire to have black, and it will become 
black almost immediately. 

It will also change hair that is bay, or chestnut, or sorrel, 
to a black, with only this difference, viz. : Take six ounces 
of litharge, and quicklime six ounces, and use fresh water 
instead of the lye— to be used as the other. The coloring 
of such colored horses may require a second application, 
but, in most instances, the parts will be black by the next 
morning. 

Many dealers have a pair of horses that match well in 
every respect, except that one has a large star on his fore- 
head, and the other has none ; he will, to give both a star, 
take a razor and shave off the hair from the horse without 
the star, to the size and shape he wishes ; then he will take 
a small quantity of oil of vitriol, and with a brush paint 



ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 67 

the part once, which will bo quite sufficieut; after the part 
becomes sore he will heal it up with copperas water, and 
after it has healed up both horses will be starred alike. 

There are some dealers who even go a little further than 
ordinary means to deceive the unwary ; for instance, if some 
gay fellow comes along, and wants a fine, dashing, stylish 
horse, that can go, the dealer will take a little turpentine 
and rub inside the thighs, and when the gay fellow takes 
up his lines to try him, he will say on his return that he 
never drove a more dashing animal, and will make the 
purchase only to find out that the next day he has a dull, 
heavy brute of an animal. 

Before I close this chapter, I have one more remark to 
make, and as our next division treats on the age of horses, 
shall only here expose another of the devices practiced to 
deceive the inexperienced. The age of a horse is known 
by certain marks in the teeth. 

When these are w^orn out by age, artificial marks are 
sometimes made, to make the horse appear younger than 
he really is. It often happens, also, that some of the suck- 
ing, or colt's teeth, are drawn out, in which case they are 
soon replaced by horse's, or permanent teeth ; this is done 
with a view to make a horse of three or four years old ap- 
pear to be five. 



ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 

The horse has, at five years old, forty teeth, viz., twen- 
ty-four molar or jaw teeth (twelve in each jaw, and six on 
each side), twelve incisors, or front teeth, being six in each 
jaw, and four tushes, one on either side of each jaw, and 
situated between the molar and incisor teeth. In mares 



38 ON AGE AND APPEAEAXCE. 

the tushes are generally absent, and sometimes there are 
a few supplementary teeth. 

The teeth are placed in very deep sockets in the jaw- 
boues, by which, with the assistance of the gums, they are 
firmly kept in their situation. 

The structure of the teeth is very curious. In the horse 
we find it composed of three portions — first, the bone, or 
rather the ivory, for it is similar to the tusks of the ele- 
phant, forms the bulk of the tooth ; secondly, the enamel, 
which is exceedingly bard, and forms the surface of the 
crown and a portion of the face, and dips into the body of 
the tooth ; thirdly, the crusta petrosa, softer than the 
other portions, and more opaque. This portion appears to 
be a sort of cement to unite the other constituents together, 
but it is only found in herbivorous animals. 

In the foetus of three or four months old, we find the 
germ of the first pair of teeth in the alveolar cavity ; it ap- 
pears a soft pulpy substance secreted by a membranous 
capsule, which in an incisor tooth is single, but in the 
molar there are no less than four to the under, and five to 
the upper, which accounts for the irregular appearance oi 
the molar teeth. The pulp is gradually changed into the 
hard material. The membrane of the incisor teeth that 
secreted the pulp is double, and from its outer surface it 
afterwards secretes the enamel, and from its inner the 
ivory. A tooth is divided into crown and fang, the formei" 
being that portion outside the gum, and the latter that 
contained within the socket ; whilst the part immediately 
embraced by the gum is called the neck. The upper sur- 
face of the crown is called the face, and is that part on 
which the mark is situated in the incisor, by which we 
judge of the age. 

Before the age of five, the age of the horse is ascertained 



ON AGE AND A F P E A li A N C E . G9 

by the presence or disappearance of the temporary teeth j 
nud frotu five to eight by the disappearance of the mark, 
which is commonly supposed to be tilled up, but in fact 
disappears by the borders of the cavity being worn down. 
It takes about three years to wear the teeth down to the 
bottom of these cavities ; thus, the anterior or front teeth, 
being first formed, are first to lose their mark ; the middle 
teeth following the "next, and the corner teeth the succeed- 
ing year. The French distinguish the incisor teeth by call- 
ing the anterior ones the nippers, the corner teeth the cor- 
ners, and those between them the dividers; which terms will 
serve to distinguish them in this place. When the incisors 
first appear, the anterior border of the cavity is somewhat 
higher than the posterior internal border; but in the course 
of a year it is worn down level. 

For many years it has been customary to judge the age of 
the horse by marks in the teeth, but at eight years old the 
horse loses those marks, and is said to be aged ; and after 
this time it was considered to be impossible to ascertain 
the age. There are, however, other means which will en- 
able us pretty generally to judge of the age, if not with cer- 
tainty, at any rate approaching to it. If we take an inci- 
sor tooth and make three or four transverse sections of it, 
we shall find that each surface is of a different shape. The 
tooth becomes gradually less from side to side and more 
from front to rear; at a certain depth it becomes triangular; 
and, lower still, the oval appears almost reversed, the di- 
ameter being less from side to side than from front to rear. 
Each of these several portions of the tooth becomes, in the 
course of time, its face, the shape of which therefore en- 
ables us to approximate to the age. This is still more as- 
sisted, up to a certain age, by the fact that the enamel that 
forms the side of the infundibulum dips deeper into the 



70 ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 

tooth tbau the cavity within it. It may therefore he seen 
in the centre of the face for some years after the disappear- 
ance of the mark. 

Mr. Armatage says : *' The funnels in the upper incisor 
teeth being deeper, and the wear being less than in the 
under teeth, the marks are longer disappearing. It has 
been stated that there are two years' space between the 
disappearance of the marks in the different teeth ; the mid- 
dle teeth losing at ten, the dividers at twelve, and the 
corners at fourteen ; but this is a matter of much irregular- 
ity and uncertainty. Their presence and disappearance 
will, however, serve to assist the other signs in informing 
us of the age." 

The following are the changes by which we judge of the 
age of a horse. It is unnecessary to notice the molar teeth, 
as they cannot be readily examined, nor the upper incisors, 
as their changes are very uncertain : 

At birth, the nippers only have made their appearance. 

At one year old, the nippers and dividers are very 
plain and visible ; the corners are also visible, having last 
appeared. 

At two tears old, the nippers have lost their marks, 
and both edges of the corners are level. 

At three years old, and several months before, the 
permanent nippers have made their appearance. 

At four years old, the permanent dividers appear, 
and the cavity has nearly disappeared in the temporary 
corners. 

At five years old, the mouth is said to be perfect, and, 
if a male, the tushes are up ; the permanent corner teeth 
have appeared, but the posterior border of the cavity is 
much lower than the anterior, and the mark is much di- 
minished in the nippers. 



ox AGE AND APPEARANCE. 71 

At six teaes old, the mark has disappeared from the 
nippers, aud considerably diminished in the dividers, but 
the inner edge of the corners is not yet level. 

At sevex years old, the mark has disappeared from 
the nippers and dividers, aud the corners are level, though 
still retaining the mark. 

At eight years old, the mark has disappeared from 
the corners also, and the horse is said to be aged. The 
face of the teeth is becoming more oval, but the enamel, 
the remains of the funnel, is auW to be seen in the centre 
of the face. 

At nixe years old, the nippers become rounder and 
the dividers oval ; the following year the dividers become 
round, and the next year the corners assume their shape; 
the central enamel gradually diminishes. 

At twelve years old, the central enamel has disap- 
peared; sometimes, however, it remains for some years. 
The marks in the upper teeth by this time have disap- 
peared, some say at eleven years old, but this is uncertain. 

At fifteen years old, the nippers have become tri- 
angular, having been gradually assuming this shape for the 
last two years. The following year the dividers also as- 
sume this shape. 

At seventeen years old, the lower incisors are all 
triangular, and the central enamel has disappeared from 
the upper incisor. After this the face of the teeth lengthen 
from front to rear, and diminish from side to side. 

There is another method of ascertaining the age of a 
horse, and we have found it to be invariably correct ; but 
it requires some practice, so as to be able to distinguish 
the wrinkles, as in full and piorainent eyes the wrinkles 
are very slight, especially if the horse be fat ; and in thin, 
skinny horses, the wrinkles will appear doubled, and it is 



72 ON AGE AND APPEABANCE, 

to be able to examine these wrinkles carefully and accu- 
rately, that will lead to a correct opinion of the age. Over 
the lid of the eyes will be found several wrinkles in old 
horses, few in middle age, and only one in the young horse, 
(as nature calls for one wrinkle,) and at ten years old you 
will see two, then you will find for every age over ten, an 
additional wrinkle up to thirty j^ears old. With practice 
and care, this method will be found very useful; if not 
always exactly correct, it will be so in the majority of 
cases, and even in doubtful cases it will bring you so near 
the exact age as to be a sufficient guide. 

Dr. Mason says, that ^* between nine and ten years of 
age a horse generally loses the marks of the mouth, 
though there are a few exceptions, as some horses retain 
good mouths until they are fourteen or fifteen years old, 
with their teeth white, even and regular, and many other 
marks of freshness and vigor." 

But when a horse grows old it may be discovered by 
these indications, which commonly attend old age, viz. : The 
gums wear away, and leave the roots of the teeth long and 
slender ; the roots grow yellow, and often brownish ; the 
bars of the mouth (which are always fleshy, plump and 
dry in a young horse, and form so many distinct, firm 
ridges,) in an old horse are lean, smooth and covered with 
saliva, with few or no ridges. 

The eyes of a young horse appear plump, full and lively ; 
the lids with few wrinkles, the hollows above the ball small, 
and no gray hairs upon the brow, unless they proceed from 
color or marks of the horse. The eyes of an old horse ap- 
pear sleepy, dim, and sunk, and the lids loose and very 
much wrinkled or shriveled, with large hollows and the 
brow gray. The countenance of a young horse is bold, gay 
and lively ; while that of an old one is sad, dejected and 



OJV A GE AND APPEARANCE. 73 

melancholy, unless mounted, and artificial means are used 
to give him spirit. 

The chin of a horse, in my opinion, is by far the Lest 
mark to enable you to ascertain his age, inasmuch as it 
does not admit of the practice of those arts by which the 
jockey so often passes off an old broken-down horse for a 
young one. The appearance can be changed only by na- 
ture; and an attentive observer will soon be convinced 
that it is not more difficult to tell an old horse from a youug 
one by the appearance of their chins, than it is for a skill- 
ful physician to distinguish a cheek of health from one 
that is wasted, diseased, and superannuated. 

The chin of a young horse is round, full, plump, full of 
wrinkles, and the pores close and small ; that of a horse ad- 
vanced in years, flat, wrinkled, flabby, and the pores open 
and large. Indeed, after some experience, together with 
particular attention to this mark of age, there will be but 
little difficulty in ascertaining, with certainty, the age of a 
horse from three to nine years old. 

I have sometimes met with travelers on the road, whom 
I never before had seen, and in traveling along have told 
the age of their horses by their chins. An examination of 
the lips and nostrils of a horse may aid, corroborate, and 
strengthen the opinioii of age, founded on the appearance 
of the chin. The hps and nostrils of a young horse are 
smooth and free from wrinkles, while those of an old horse 
abound with them. 

The physiognomy of a horse will assist much in ascer- 
taining his age ; but the chin is certainly the safest guide. 

I will here introduce, for the benefit of the reader, an ex- 
tract from the '' American Farmer, ^^ referring to an idea 
of Dr. Mason's. Dr. Mason in his work refers to the same 
extract in the '^American Farmer, ^^ which I hero quote : 



74 ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 

'' Since the age of that noble animal, the horse, after 
a certain period of life (that is, after the marks in his 
incisors and cuspidati are so entirely obliterated as to 
give no clue for ascertaining his age,) appears to the gen- 
erality of horse age judges to be a subject of very much 
uncertainty, I now take the liberty of laying before the 
pubhc, through the medium of your paper, an infallible 
method (subject to very few exceptions) of ascertaining it 
in such a manner, after a horse loses his marks, or after he 
arrives at the age of nine years or over, so that any person 
concerned in horses, even of the meanest capacity, may not 
be imposed upon in a horse's age, from nine years of age 
and over, more than three years at farthest, until the an- 
imal arrives at the age of twenty, and upwards, by just 
feeling the submaxillary bone, or the bone of the lower 
jaw. 

This method I discovered by making many anatomical 
observations on the skulls of dead horses, and repeated 
dissections. In order, therefore, to elucidate the above, I 
must in the first place beg leave to remark that the sub- 
maxillary bone, or the bone of the lower jaw of all young 
horses about four or five years of age, immediately above 
the bifurcation, is invariably thick and very round at the 
bottom; the cavity of said bone being very small, contains 
a good deal of marrow, and generally continues in this 
state until the animal arrives at that period which is gen- 
erally termed an aged horse, or until the animal acquires his 
full size in height or thickness (or, according to sporting 
language, is completely furnished,) with very little varia- 
tion. But after this period, the cavity as aforesaid becomes 
larger, and more marrow is contained therein. Hence the 
submaxillary bonejK. becomes thinner and sharper a little 
above the bifurcation. 



ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 75 

This indelible mark may always be observed iQ a small 
degree iu horses above eight years of age, but at nine years 
old it is still more perceptible. It continues growing a 
little thinner and sharper at the bottom until twelve years 
of age. From thence until fifteen it is still thinner, and 
about as sharp as the back of a case-knife near the han- 
dle. From this period, until the ages eighteen, nineteen, 
twenty and upwards, it is exceedingly so ; and is as sharp, 
in many subjects, as the dull edge of that instrument. 

RULES. 

First. — Put your three fingers about half an inch or an 
inch immediately above the bifurcation, and grasp the 
submaxillary bone, or the lower jaw. If it is thick at the 
sides, and very round indeed at the bottom, the animal is 
most certainly under nine years of age. 

Second. — If the bone is not very thick, and it is per- 
ceivably not very round at the bottom, he is from nine to 
twelve years old, and so on. From twelve to fifteen, the 
bone is sharper at bottom and thiimer at the sides, the 
bottom is generally as sharp as the back of a case-knife ; 
and from fifteen to eighteen, nineteen, twenty and up- 
wards, without any exceptions, the bone, when divested of 
its integuments, is as sharp as the dull edge of that in- 
strument. 

Third. — Allowances must always be made between hea- 
vy, large western or wagon horses, or carriage horses, and 
fine blooded ones. By practicing and strictly attending to 
these rules, upon all descriptions of horses, the performer 
in a little time will become very accurate in the accom- 
plishment of his desires, more especially if he attentively 
observes the lower jaw-bone of dead horses." 

The next subject we treat of is the shape and appear- 



76 SADDLE EOBSE 

ance of horses that are required for dififerent descriptions 
of work, such as the saddle horse, carriage horse and race 
horse. We have therefore placed before you the opinion of 
Dr Mason, who appears to have taken quite a lively inter- 
est in the subject, and from his manner of treating it, I do 
not think that I can do better than quote it. He says . 

SADDLE HORSE. 

" When a horse is purchased for the saddle alone, it is 
to be presumed he must be clear of all defects, strike the 
fancy, entirely please the eye, and, from his happy sym- 
metry and due proportion of form, stand the second beauty 
in the world. When this is the case, he is seldom disposed 
of at too high a price. Amongst the great number of people 
in the United States, I am induced to believe there are 
but few good judges of a horse calculated for the saddle. 
Indeed, they are better informed upon almost any other 
subject that can be mentioned. Yet the Virginians have 
a large number of fine horses, and are accused of devoting 
too much attention to that beautiful animal. Among all 
the difficulties attending the affairs of common life, there 
is not, perhaps, a greater than that of choosing a beautiful, 
an elegant, or good horse. Nor will this appear strange 
when we consider the number of circumstances that are to 
be taken into consideration, with regard to shape, size, 
movements, limbs, marks, eyes, color, age, etc., etc., which 
are so various that it would fill a volume to describe ; and, 
indeed, the best judges are often obliged to content them- 
selves with guessing at some things, unless they have suffi- 
cient time to make a thorough trial. If I were asked what 
were the two most beautiful objects in nature, I would 
answer, that woman, lovely woman, before whose charms 
the soul of man bows with reverence and submission, stands 



SADDLE HORSE. 77 

unparalleled ; next to this matchless paragon, a beautiful 
horse displays nature in her highest polish and greatest 
perfection; his gay and cheerful appearance, proudly 
prancing and bounding, his elegance of shape, smoothness 
of limbs, polish of skin, due proportion of form, and grace- 
fulness of action, united to a mild, soft, faithful and patient 
disposition, raise him far above the rest of the brute cre- 
ation. 

I shall now proceed to lay down some rules, and to give 
some hints for the guidance of persons requiring a saddle 
horse. 

In order that he may have just claim to beauty and ele 
gance, his head must be small, thin, bony and tapering ; 
his countenance lively and cheerful ; his ears quick in ac- 
tion, high, erect, narrow, thin, and pointing together; his 
eyes large, round, full and black, sparkling with cheerful- 
ness, yet hushing his agitating passions into order and 
obedience ; his nostrils large and expanded, and, when in 
motion, disclosing a deep red color ; his brows and fore- 
head smooth, and not too flat ; his nose somewhat rising, 
of good turn, and a little incUned to the Roman shape ; his 
neck long, thin, delicate and arched, forming a beautiful 
gradation from the breast and shoulders ; his mane half 
the width of his neck, thin and smooth ; his shoulders 
high, tapering, and thrown well back ; his breast plump, 
full, and of moderate width* his fore-legs straight, flat, 
sinewy and thin ; his arms large and muscular ; his back 
not too short, and not too much swayed for strength and 
durability, but pretty even and straight; his body rather 
round and swelling than flat, and of proportionable size ; 
his flanks plump and full, and the last rib approaching 
near the hip bones; his hips and buttocks full, round and 
well covered with muscles ; his chine broad ; his tail well 



78 SADDLE HORSE, 

placed, and naturally or artificially elegant, which adds 
much to his figure and gay appearance ; his thighs long, 
from the hip to the haunch-boue large and bulging with 
muscles; his hocks broad, sinewy, bony, and clear of 
puffs ; his hind-legs from the hocks short, bending a little 
rather than straight, flat and sinewy; his pasterns of 
moderate length, small and bony ; his hoofs cupped ;* 
small, round and smooth ; his hind-parts not tucked, but 
of easy turn and graceful slope ; when mounted his ap- 
pearance should be bold, lofty, majestic ; his eyes shining 
with intrepidity and fire ; his movements light and airy as 
a phantom, with a fairy step that would scarcely break a 
dew-drop ; his action smooth and graceful ; his color 
should suit the taste of the purchaser, though a mahogany 
bay is certainly the best color ; his marks large, of irreg- 
ular white, to light up the countenance, and at least two 
white legs, which will add much to his beauty, though it 
must be acknowledged that all parts of a horse that are 
white, are much more tender than any other color. 

When a horse is ridden by any person for you to judge of 
his gaits, you should have him moved towards you, from 
you, and finally by you, as you may have the opportunity 
of discovering if there is any turning in and out about his 
knees and ankles, before or behind, which is very objec- 
tionable. A well shaped horse will track as true (or his 
legs will follow each other in as direct a line) as the wheels 
of a well constructed carriage. For him to be considered a 
good riding horse, he should move with ease to himself, and 
pass over the ground with great rapidity. Hard steps, 
short going, and great apparent labor, are offensive to the 
sight, unpleasant to the rider, and fatiguing to the horse 
himself. 

* I think that the hoof only requires to be very slightly cupped.— Ed. 



CARRIAGE HORSES. 79 

With respect to the colors of horses, people differ very 
widely ; a black horse, with white face and legs, a gray, or 
a raabogaoy bay, with white marks, when well kept, are 
all showy colors; but for actual service, experience has 
proved that dark colors, without any white feet, are far 
preferable ; for who ever recollects to have seen a black, 
sorrel, or bay horse, with a bald face and four white legs, 
distinguish himself on the turf, in four-mile heats? I am 
inclined to believe there is no first rate race horse of that 
description within the United States." 

CARPwIAGE HOESES. 

'* Horses intended for a carrage or draft of any descrip- 
tion should be from five feet to five feet four inches high ; 
tliough there are many excellent and truly valuable draft 
horses of much smaller size. The greatest attention should 
be paid to their habits, temper, quality and disposition. A 
horse that has been once frightened in harness, never again 
is safe for that employment. So retentive are their memo- 
ries, that they do not forget an alarm of that kind during 
their whole lives. For the want of experience on this sub- 
ject, horses that have been frightened in harness have been 
hitched to carriages, which too often has been the cause of 
the untimely death of many amiable females and helpless 
children. Indeed, a pair of good and well-matched gentle 
carriage horses is rarely to be met with ; as so many good 
qualities, together with a similarity of age, color, size, and 
marks are required to make them complete and valuable. 
Their eyes should be good, carriage lofty, bodies propor- 
tionably large, breast full and wide, their whole bodies 
heavily muscled; their heads, necks, and ears delicate; 
their legs large, sinewy, and bony ; their pasterns short, 
and their hoofs moderately large, and not too flat. They 



80 CARRIAGE HORSES. 

should be free from starting; stumbling, and kicking, and 
their dispositions patient, gentle, and obedient. It very 
often happens that horses are kept together as a match, on 
account of their color and similarity of marks, "when no re- 
spect is paid to their difference of form, spirit, and move- 
ments, which often differ as widely as the mettled racer 
from the dull cart horse. When thus badly matched, they 
would very soon be separated by a good judge, and noth- 
ing short of necessity should ever permit them to draw to- 
gether. Carriage horses should carry good tails, naturally, 
or artificially, * which adds much to their gay and elegant 
appearance; presenting figures ready, apparently, to move 
upon the wind, whilst they are perfectly gentle and man- 
ageable. Horses of different colors, whose spirit, size, and 
movements are similar, are a much better match in harness 
than those of the same color with three or four inches dif- 
ference in height ; or one dull and the other spirited ; one 
young, the other old ; one fat, the other poor j one with a 
bald face and white legs, the other with white legs ; or one 
active and the other clumsy. 

I have thus taken up the time of the reader, to make him 
the better judge, and give him a correct idea of a bad 
match of carriage horses, which will assist him much in 
selecting those that are good. After being thoroughly sat- 
isfied about the shape, age, condition, &c., of a pair of 
carriage horses you may be about to purchase, it will be 
^necessary, in justice to yourself, to try them in harness ; 
though the seller will assure you they are as gentle as lambs, 
true as honor, and finally, the best pair of horses in the 
world ; although it is possible for such a statement to be a 

* The plan of nicking, to satisfy the fancy of their owners, we disapprove of 
on principle, as it is both cruel and brutal, and should never be allowed by Mr. 
Bergh's Society.— En. 



CARRIAGE HORSES. 81 

fact, I would advise that a trial should be made, and the 
purchaser become his own judge j for which purpose have 
them hitched to a carriage, and driven several times up and 
down the steepest hill that the road may cross, which is 
most convenient. If they have any tricks, or are not true 
draft horses, it can be readily discovered. Next, for the 
purpose of discovering if they have ever been alarmed in 
harness, frequently open and shut the carriage door, also 
move and rattle the steps. If they have ever been fright- 
ened in harness you will very soon be compelled to desist j 
then by coming to their front, and with attention observ- 
ing their ears and eyes, you will be informed to your en- 
tire satisfaction if they are safe. Horses that have been 
once alarmed in harness, so soon as they hear any rattling 
noise behind them, begin to grow restless, sinking or squat- 
ting behind, holding the head high, snorting, fetching long 
breaths, moving the ears with great quickness, at the same 
time showing the whites of their eyes. Let me warn the 
reader against the purchase of such horses: they are unfit 
and unsafe for the use of a family.- 

Horses for harness, that are fiery and fretful, are very 
objectionable, and should always be avoided; but great 
care should be taken to distinguish between animals of this 
description and those that are eager and spirited ; the for- 
mer begin to prance and fret the moment they are out of 
the stable, until they exhaust themselves with fatigue ; but 
the latter endeavor only to be first in the chase, or fore- 
most in the field, and are truly valuable ; possessing those 
qualities that resemble prudence and courage ; the others, 
intemperate heat and rashness. Whenever carriage horses 
are driven, they should be moved off fifteen or twenty steps 
in a slow walk, without the cracking or flourishing of a whip, 
which is so much the custom, and which is very frequently 



82 RACE HOUSE. 

the cause of high-tempered horses refusing to draw ; after 
which their speed may be quickened to whatever gait you 
may prefer, by the use of some liind word, to which all 
horses should be accustomed. It is very much the prac- 
tice with drivers to leave their horses standing iy a car- 
riage, without any person to hold them, for hours together. 
Having seen the worst of consequences result from this 
practice (and with horses under the character of being gen- 
tle,) I would recommend that drivers should never give up 
their reins until they are prepared with some person suf- 
ficiently strong to hold them. By using such precaution, 
the overturning and breaking of many fine carriages, and 
the ruining of many valuable and elegant carriage horses, 
would be avoided." 

RACE HORSE. 

*' It is a remarkable fact that horses run in all shapes. 
But most generally those excel upon the turf, that are of 
the following form:— head and neck thiji, small, and deli- 
cate ; eyes large, plump, and full of expression ; nostrils 
wide, red, and expanded ; throttle large ; shoulders high, 
thin, and running very far back ; breast plump, full and 
wide; body long, round, and rather light than heavy; back 
short as possible ; thighs long, large, full, and bulging ; fore- 
arm large and swelling towards the breast ; hocks broad, 
strong and bony ; legs of moderate size, thin, flat and sin- 
ewy; pasterns rather long and small, than otherwise; feet 
of proportionable size to the balance of the form, though, of 
the two extremes, small is better ; be should be nervous, 
tractable, and of good spirit, and he should be from five 
feet to five feet four inches high. Such a horse, well man- 
aged, kept and placed in races, will seldom fail to distin- 
guish himself on the turf." 



ON FEEDING AND THE FOOD. 83 

DRIVING. 

'' It may be generally remarked, that men who drive 
fast have swift horses; not that they drive fast because 
they have swift horses, bat because fast driving makes 
horses swift. A horse may commonly be trained to a 
dull and heavy, or to an airy and fleet gait. Nature 
unquestionably does much, but education does far more to- 
wards producing the great difference in the speed of 
horses, than most men are willing to allow. Horses are 
more frequently injured by driviiig them beyond their 
habitual pace, than beyond their native power. 

The best direction for the education of horses is drive 
fast, and stop often^ 



ON FEEDING, AND THE FOOD. 

In adapting the quantity and quality of food to the wants 
of each horse, regard must be paid first of all to the small 
size of this animal's stomach, which affects all alike ; sec- 
ondly, to the work for which he is designed; and thirdly, 
to the peculiar constitution of each horse. From the first 
of these causes the horse must never be allowed to fast for 
any long period if it can be possibly avoided, it being found 
from experience that at the end of four hours his stomach 
is empty, and the whole frame becomes exhausted, while 
the appetite is frequently so impaired if he is kept fasting 
for a longer period, that when food is presented to him it 
will not be taken. From actual experience it has been 
shown that on a long journey, without a chance to feed 
the animal, it exhausted him less to ride fast, and increase 
the pace up to ten or even twelve miles an hour, and thus 
reduce the time of fasting, than to dawdle over the ground 



84 ON FEEDING AND TEE FOOD. 

for a much longer time on an empty stomach. If two hors- 
es are driven or ridden fifty or sixty miles under similar 
conditions as to the weight they have to draw or carry, and 
the one is taken at the rate of six miles an hour, which will 
keep him fasting from eight and a half to ten hours, accord- 
ing to the distance, while the other is traveled fast enough 
to do it in six or seven hours, the latter will be less exhaust- 
ed than the former, though even he would be all the bet- 
ter for a feed in the middle of the journey, the time devo- 
ted to this act being easily picked up by the increased 
energy which would be given in the corn. 

The human stomach will bear hunger far better than that 
of the horse, and if the rider or driver feels his appetite 
pretty keen, he may be satisfied that the animal which car- 
ries him is still more in want of food. The kind of work 
which the horse is intended for, afi'ects not only tbe quanti- 
ty of food required, but also its quality. Thus, very fast 
work, such as racing and hunting, strains the muscular 
system, as well as the heart and lungs, to the utmost, and 
therefore the food which is best fitted for the development 
of the former to the highest degree, should consist of those 
kinds which present the elements contained in the muscu- 
lar tissue in the largest proportions consistent with due 
performance of the digestive organs. Modern researches in 
organic chemistry have thrown considerable light on the 
subject of digestion. It is now ascertained beyond doubt 
that food consists of two characteristic elements, one being 
for the nourishment of the body, while the other contributes 
to the support of combustion in the lungs. The former 
contains nitrogen, the latter does not. Tims, flesh, grain, 
and pulse contain nitrogen, and are capable of affording 
nourishment, while oil, fat, and starch, are only able to sup- 
ply carbon for the purpose of respiration and nutrition to 



ON FEEDING AND THE FOOD. 85 

tbe non-nitrogenous parts. These are found in Black But- 
ter-Corn in larger proportion than in any other description 
of food, as one pint of Butter-Corn is considered equal to 
twelve quarts of oats. Butter-Corn has recently been im- 
ported into this country from the Indies, and can be found 
at many of the feed stores. The demands of the muscular 
system are fully supplied by the Black Butter-Corn, as it 
contains more saline matter than hay, more albumen, 
starch, fibrine, and sugar, than oats or Indian corn, and 
more fatty matter than linseed or slippery elm; and, on 
the other hand, contains less woody fibre, which is the 
waste of food. 

A feed of one pint of the Black Butter-Corn per day will 
be more nourishing to a horse than a peck of oats, as it not 
only fattens, but, from the quantity of its fatty matter, it is 
as coohug as linseed. 

In the following pages, therefore, I shall give a description 
of the several alimentary wants of the horse, and then show 
in what proportions they are found in the varieties of keep, 
which have in a measure been described, so as to enable 
the horse master to make his selection according to circum- 
stances. All these substances are found in the blood, but 
this fluid is continually receiving and giving off its various 
elements. The blood of a horse fed on highly nitrogenized 
food does not differ on analysis from that of another which 
has been kept on the opposite kind of diet. Physiological 
research, however, tells us that muscle is chiefly composed 
of fibrine, and that every time a bundle of its fibres con- 
tracts, a certain expenditure of this material is made, calling 
for a corresponding supply from the blood, which cannot 
be offered unless the food contains it. Hence the badly-fed 
horse, if worked, soon loses his flesh, and not only becomes 
free from fat, but also presents a contracted condition of 



86 ON FEEDING AND TEE FOOD. 

the muscles, aud thus science is confirmed by every-day 
experience, and the fact is generally admitted that to in- 
crease the muscular powers of a horse he must have a suf- 
ficient supply of nitrogenized food. As I have before 
remarked, the nutrition of muscle requires fibrine; but, in 
addition, the brain and nerves must be supplied with fatty 
matter, phosphorus, and albumen. The bones demand 
gelatin and earthy salts, aud the maintenance ofheatcannolj 
be efiected without carbon in some shape or other. 

It may therefore be taken for granted that the much- 
worked horse requires oats, and most of all, Black Butter- 
Corn, or a mixed feed of oats and the Butter- Corn, 
together with such an amount of hay as will supply him 
with the starch and gum which his system requires; while, 
on the other hand, for the idle or light-used auimal, which 
does not use his muscular system to any extent, and there- 
fore does not require much oats or hay, a much less quan- 
tity of feed, with a piat of Black Butter-Corn three or four 
times a week, would do more to improve the health and 
condition of the animal than all the swindling prepara- 
tions, under the term of condition powders, which, in nine 
cases out of ten, are more hurtful than beneficial ; but there 
is no doubt that there are many persons who can be made 
to believe anything, and it is only by that class that these 
preparations are thought much of. Not that alterative 
medicines are not beneficial at the proper time, but the 
compounds made generally under that term are such stuff, 
that it is next to an impossibility for any benefit to be got 
out of them. The Black Butter-Corn being the finest feed 
now in the country, I think that I should be acting injustly 
to my readers if I did not acquaint them of it, and demon- 
strate clearly why I so advocate it ; and this is best done 
by an analysis of its alimentary elements. 



ON FEEDING AND THE FOOD. 



87 



The following table exhibits the percentage of these 
various elements in the several kinds of food for the horse 
most frequently used iu this, as well as other countries: 



Description of Food. 



Black Butter-Corn.. 

Oats 

Indian Corn , 

Linseed 

Beans 

Peas , 

Barley , 

Old Hay 

Clover 

Barley Straw 

Oat Straw 

Wheat Straw 

Bran 

Carrots 



"Woody 
Fibre. 



none. 
30.0 

8.0 
19.0 
14.5 

9.0 
14.0 
30.0 
25 
46.0 
50.0 
55.0 
54.0 

3.0 



Sugar 

and 

Starch. 



53.5 
43.0 
53.0 
35.0 
40.0 
48.0 
52.0 
40.0 
40.0 
34.0 
31.0 
27.0 
2.0 
10.0 



Fibrine 

and 
Albumen 



15.5 

11.4 

14.0 

20.0 

26.0 

24.0 

13.5 

7.0 

9.0 

1.5 

1.0 

0.5 

20.0 

1.5 



Fatty 
Matter. 



10.5 
0.6 
6.0 
8.0 
2.5 
2.0 
2.5 
2.0 
3.0 

none. 

a trace 

none. 
4.0 

none. 



Saline 
Matters 



9.2 
2.5 
5.0 
6.0 
3.0 
3.0 
3.0 
7.0 
9.0 
6.5 
5.5 
5.5 
7.0 
1.5 



Water. 



11.3 
12.5 
14.0 
12.0 
14.0 
14.0 
15.0 
14.0 
14.0 
12.0 
12.5 
12.0 
13.0 
84.0 



From this table it will be seen that the black butter- 
corn must be the best feed, then corn and oats, with hay. 

The best mode of feeding hard-worked horses is as fol- 
lows: 

At Night, aftePw work— One quarter-peck oats, and 
one half-pint black butter-corn, with eight to ten pounds 
of hay, cut or otherwise. 

In the Morning — One quarter-peck oats, and one pint 
Indian menl, with a little hay, say two pounds. 

During the Day — One quarter-peck of oats. 

On Saturday Night — A good warm bran mash. 

On Sunday— An extra allowance of hay. 

By following these rules, the food which a horse consumes 
durinfx one week will be found to contain as follows : 



88 ON FEEDING AND THE FOOD. 

Fibrine and albumen, 22 lbs.; Fat, 5i lbs.; Starch and 
sugar, 85 lbs. 

So that the relative proportion of nitrogenous to car- 
bonaceous food is as 1 to 4 ; whilst for a fattening animal 
it is as 1 to 5. 

Let the animal in all cases have his water before feeding 
him. 



NUMBER OF BONES IN A HOUSE. 



A TABLE 



BONES IN THE STEUCTUEE OF THE HORSE. 



From Dr. Dadd's ''Anatomy a7id Physiology. 



Frontal 1 

Parietal 2 

Occipital 1 

Temporal 2 

Ethmoid 1 

Sphenoid 1 

Nasal 2 

Ungius 2 

Malarum 2 

Maxillaria, superior and anterior 4 

Palatine 2 

Turbinated bones 4 

Tomer 1 

Posterior maxilla 1 

^ Lachrymal 2 

Cuspidata, or canine 4 

Molars 24 

Incisors 12 

Bone of the tongue ; Hyoides 1 

f Malleus 2 

Bonesoftueear <{ g^pls::;;;;;:;:;:;:;:::;::: i 

t Orbicular 2 

(Cervical 7 

Dorsal 18 

Lumbar 5 

[ Sacrum. . * 1 

Tail — ossa coccygis, or bones of the tail 15 

f Sternum, composed at birth of 



Bones of the cranium 
or skull 



Bones of the face . 



Uentes, or teeth . 



TJiorax 



a number of pieces 1 

True ribs 14 

^ False ribs 22 

^ Pelvis, ossa innominata\ 2 

Carried forward 1G2 

* The bones in the sacrum of the colt consist of five pieces. 

t The pelvis of the younsr animal is made up of the two ossa innominata 
each of which is formed of two pieces ; the larger is called os ileum, the small- 
er, in allnsion to the human pelvis, has bcea subdivided into two portions, 
named a iscliium and os pubis. 



90 NUMBER OF BONES IN A RORSE. 



W 



Bones of the knee 



Below the kiiee 



Brought forward 102 

f Shoulder Scapula 2 

Arm Humerus '. 2 

Fore-arm Radius (aud Ulna, connected 

with the former) 4 

Os schapoides, (1 to each knee) 2 

Oslunare *' '* 2 

Os cuueiforme.. " " 2 

Os trapezium. .. " " 2 

Os trapezoides.. " ** 2 

Os unciforme. .. " " 2 

Os magnum " '* 2 

I L Os pislforme ... '* " 2 

Metacarpus magnus 2 

Spleuts 4 

Sessamoides 4 

SufiVagiuis (large pastern) 2 

Os coronse (small pastern) 2 

Os naviculare 2 

[ Os pedis 2 

Tliigh Femur 2 

Stifle Patella 2 

r ^ i Tibia 2 

^^^ "j Fibula 2 

Astragalus 2 

Os calcis 2 

Os cuboides 2 

Os cuneiforine magnum 2 

Internal medium 2 

External medium 2 

Metatarsi (or canons) 2 

Splents 4 

Os suffraginis 2 

Os coronse 2 

Os sesamoidis 4 

Os naviculare 2 

Os pedis 2 

Total 242 



Bones of the hock. 



Below the knee. 



Dr. Hooper reckons the nuniber of bones in the human subject 

at 248. 



DICK & FITZGERALD, 
PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK. 



*^* The Publishers, upon receipt of the price, will send any of the following 
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Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes. 

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Prioe , 50 CtS. 

Bound in cloth ■ 7& CtS- 




•.-.■••.•."•■■;'Stea_j_J: 

i::-i',,,;r.'Tt;;!;.\\';;:c(iii!'t;ft; 









;;.'r^^^/^;^«^ 



